Hotchkiss Library Gala emphasizes community strength

SHARON — Supporters of the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon gathered at the Sharon Country Club during fine May weather for its annual fundraising gala for a celebration of free and public access to information.

A well-dressed crowd began filling the elegant interior of the club just after 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, stopping by the wooden bar for a glass of wine or a cocktail and milling about the light-filled banquet room.

Guests chit-chatted as servers zipped about the room, offering sliders, arancini and an array of other hors d’oeuvres. Gala-goers occasionally braved the throng gathered around the silent auction table located in the airy screened porch a few steps below, where they found an array of local artists’ work and regional experiences, including a bowl made from black walnut wood by Sharon Town Clerk Linda Amerighi and an afternoon spectating the shearing of the library’s Executive Director Gretchen Hachmeister’s own flock of Shetland sheep.

Hotchkiss Library Board President Lorna Edmundson noted that many of this year’s auction items were donated by library patrons themselves, emblematic of Sharon’s deep pool of artistic talent. Librarians Kathy Amiet and Kate Seabury staffed the busy table, which was framed by sweeping views of passing storm clouds above the Taconic Hills.

Sharon resident Jill Drew, who serves on several town committees and boards, said that while many communities support their local libraries, the Hotchkiss Library “does a wonderful job of making people feel welcome.”

Shortly after 6 p.m., Edmundson took the floor to kick off the night’s live auction, echoing Drew’s sentiment: “It’s a true celebration of community and generosity.”

The live auction saw the sale of an etching from legendary American artist and Sharon homeowner Jasper Johns for $11,000, a piece from accomplished painter Gail Rothschild go to a $2,000 bid, and vintage Angela Cummings earrings selling for $4,000.

Library Assistant Cinzi Lavin shows off the Angela Cummings earrings as Auctioneer August Uribe calls out the $4,000 winning bid. Alec Linden

A lively paddle raise ensued, but not before Hachmeister offered a more urgent message to the gala attendees. “Libraries protect the freedom to read and they protect our access to information which is so important right now,” she said, noting that 70% of the library’s yearly operating income is supplied through philanthropic donations.

The Hotchkiss Library itself is not directly threatened by federal funding cuts for libraries, proposed by the Trump Administration’s plan to curtail federal spending. Some of its essential services, though, would be impacted if the state Library of Connecticut was to have its funding redacted, which happened earlier this year but was reinstated without explanation.

Interlibrary loans, for example, would be affected, disrupting an essential service for small libraries like Sharon’s and others in the region in a loss which would be felt on a daily basis, Hachmeister explained. While the funding for this year is secured, she explained, the Trump Administration’s federal spending plan demarks “a big fat zero” for the Institute of Museum and Library Services — the federal body that administers funding for state libraries — if it were to be adopted on Oct. 1.

The Hotchkiss Library’s next fundraising opportunity is its annual Book Signing event, to be held on the afternoon and evening of Friday, Aug. 1.