Although she’s managed to keep her place of work afloat and weathered the trials of the pandemic, Oakdale librarian Charlotte Tracy still has her work cut out for her.
The past several years have been especially hard on the Lois Johnson Memorial Library. Even before the emergence of COVID-19 and unprecedented inflation, the library narrowly avoided closures in late 2017 and early 2019 because of a lack of community funding. Without enough money to go around, the library has had to turn to other alternatives to keep the doors open and the lights on.
Tracy said that means constantly asking for donations from the community and beyond, in addition to applying for grants from the government and various other foundations.
While residents donate money or other…
