The Troy Public Library celebrated one year in its new facility, quietly but satisfactorily, on Friday.

William White, library director, took a few minutes to reflect on what he said has been “a very good year.”

“The new facility opened with a 40 percent increase in traffic during the first six weeks,” White said. “We are holding steady at a 25 percent increase and, since we’ve been in the new library building, we have issued 1,600 new library cards.

“Of course, everyone was curious and few people hadn’t seen a library like this in our region so it was easy to get them to come in. But we knew getting them to come back would be more difficult.”

So, White and his staff knew the importance of providing quality collections, services and programs.

“Without them, there would be no need for people to come back,” he said. “The one thing that we did not want to do was fail to meet the expectations of our community. So, we set goals for ourselves and we were confident that, if we achieved those goals, we would meet the expectations of our patrons and our community.”

White said that the increase in patron traffic and the number of new library cards issued is a good indication that library is meeting those expectations and that the community is benefiting.

“The biggest benefit of our new facility is that we are able to develop programs on the spur of the moment,” he said. “We can incorporate new programs without having to coordinate with another organization in order to have space to accommodate them, especially the kids’ programs. We can develop programs and schedule them when it’s best for us.”

The Troy Public Library offers a wide variety of services including Internet assistance, large print material, books on CD, audio books, current DVDs and films and, what White said is the best genealogical service anywhere.

“In Karen Bullard, we have an outstanding genealogist,” he said. “To have someone with Karen’s knowledge and expertise on staff is remarkable. And, we do not duplicate our strengths. We have an entire staff that excels in patron service.”

White said that he surrounds himself with creative people and then gives them the freedom to express their creativity and his staff is the reason that the Troy Public Library has been successul.

“One of the most rewarding experiences is to be walking the library floor and find patrons who are giving tours to family members or visitors,” he said. “Visitor response has been overwhelming.”

With first-year expectations met, White said the goal for the library’s second year is to exceed expectations of the new programs for children, teens and adults.

“Our goal is to implement new programs in every season and for every season to provide the services the library is capable of providing,” he said. “We are still not where we want to be. We want to do more and provide more. The minute you rest on your laurels, you become complacent and become stagnant. We are determined not to let that happen at the Troy Public Library.”