Old Lyme Names Library’s Quiet Champions as Citizens of the Year

OLD LYME, CT – Two longtime volunteers who have helped expand the local library’s collection and strengthen its ties to the community were honored Thursday with the traditional Citizen of the Year award.

Before naming the honorees at Old Lyme’s Annual Town Meeting, First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker raised the window shade at the front of the Town Hall meeting room with a ceremonial flourish to reveal the Citizen of the Year banner. 

“It is my sincere pleasure to shine a light this year on two individuals whose tireless efforts have had a profound impact right here in the middle of Old Lyme,” she said. 

Claudia Condon and Joan Overfield, co-managers of Phoebe’s BookCellar for about 10 years, later said they’d been lured to the meeting under the pretense that Lyme-Old Lyme VFW Post 1467 volunteer Doug Wilkinson was the one receiving the award. 

“They did a good job duping us,” Condon said. 

The BookCellar is the fundraising arm of the independent, nonprofit library. 

Shoemaker called the astonished pair to sit beside the podium as she praised their dedication to literacy and service. In front of an audience of roughly 30 people, the first selectwoman reinforced the library’s position as a cornerstone of Old Lyme’s community spirit that has influenced nearly everyone in the room.

She recounted the duo’s role overseeing the intake, sorting, pricing and sale of thousands of donated books each year while coordinating a volunteer corps to staff the shop twice a week.

Their efforts raise roughly $25,000 annually to support library services, the first selectwoman said.

But it’s more than physical labor that earned the duo Citizen of the Year status, according to Shoemaker. 

“It is a testament to their belief in literacy, community engagement and the enduring value of a strong local library,” she said. “They embody the volunteer spirit that makes Old Lyme such a special place to live.”

Condon began managing the BookCeller in 2016 with another volunteer before Overfield, a retired dean of libraries and university librarian at Fairfield University, moved to town and joined the effort. Shoemaker described watching the pair meticulously inspect incoming donations, deciding which books make it to the shelves and which are redirected to the outdoor book bin.

The first selectwoman conveyed kudos from numerous residents submitted as part of the public nomination process. Overfield and Condon looked at one another with wide eyes each time another name emerged from the list of more than a dozen supporters. 

The nominations credited the pair’s organizational skills, welcoming leadership and creative outreach – especially during the pandemic – for the success of the town’s only bookstore. 

Under their stewardship, the BookCellar received two awards from the Friends of Connecticut Libraries organization, first in 2018 for improving sales, access and signage, and again in 2022 for innovative outreach during the pandemic. Their efforts included outdoor book sales, free books for children served by the Shoreline Food Pantry, support for Little Free Libraries and a free-book cart outside the library entrance.

Library Director Katie Huffman, in remarks shared by Shoemaker, credited the women’s steady leadership and persistent work with making the BookCellar the welcoming space it is today. 

“It’s a rare day that the library staff do not see at least one of them in the library picking up donations, restocking shelves or stopping by to check on the volunteers that are working in the cellar,” Huffman said. 

Condon, who started out at the BookCellar managing the children’s book section, and Overfield, who started in cookbooks, said it’s the volunteers who make their job so enjoyable. 

They cited a roster of about 45 volunteers currently ranging in age from their early 20s to 100. Centenarian Emily Snow is in charge of biographies, they said. 

Condon pointed out the money raised is used entirely to benefit library patrons. 

BookCellar proceeds are used for items and services including museum passes, newspaper subscriptions, online job- and veteran-assistance tools, new books and a range of teen collections and programs. In the final quarter of the last fiscal year, the library spent $2,500 to purchase ebooks, $1,600 on adult nonfiction books and $1,000 on the teen collection. 

“When you think about it, it’s all donated materials and volunteer labor,” Condon said. “So it’s $25,000 from nothing.” 

Overfield put it this way: “The Old Lyme community is very well read, and very generous.”