Ilsley Public Library officials want their patrons to know that the book drop by the Main Street facility’s side entrance is now open to return your borrowed materials. As a safety precaution, all library materials will be isolated for seven days before being checked in and shelved. Also, beginning next Monday, June 1, the Ilsley will begin offering an outside pickup service. Officials will soon share more information on how the pickup service will work. During the period of pickup, the Ilsley and Sarah Partridge Library buildings will remain closed to the public. Patrons that frequent the Sarah Partridge Library in East Middlebury may request and pick up materials at Ilsley. Auto-renew will remain on for all library items. Any fines accrued during this time will continue to be waived, according to library officials.
Again this year, Lincoln citizens are being recruited to become “volunteer invasive patrollers.”  Wild chervil, a plant that has taken over the roadsides of much of central Vermont and is busy lining Route 125 in Ripton, will be flowering within the next two weeks. Help is needed to control this plant in Lincoln. In mid-June, poison parsnip will be on the menu for invasive control. The Lincoln Conservation Commission has designated June 20 as the “group control day,” but because of COVID-19, patrollers are being asked to go out on their own. Also, the commission is looking for people to adopt a highway — that is, adopt a section of road that you would patrol on more than just one day. Anyone interested in becoming a patroller should contact Commission Chair Tina Scharf through the Lincoln town offices at 453-2980.
The Middlebury Farmers’ Market returned to service this past Saturday. It will continue to offer fresh local vegetables and crafts every Saturday morning at the VFW Post on Exchange Street. Regular hours are 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Read the guidelines for customers at the market’s website: tinyurl.com/y8zjwdv7. If you are feeling sick, please stay home. Unfortunately, the market will no longer be a social event while these restrictions are in place. 
Middlebury families are being encouraged to apply for free and reduced-price school meals. This includes families who have not applied in the past and families who previously applied and were not considered eligible but have had a change in financial circumstances. Families who are currently eligible to receive free and reduced-price lunches do not need to reapply.  Application approval will not affect whether families continue to receive meal deliveries through the end of the school year. Applying for meals can positively affect summer meal eligibility for the entire Middlebury community, helping all families. Eligible families also receive an additional food shopping benefit. Eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals qualifies households to receive an additional food shopping benefit called Pandemic-EBT through 3-SquaresVT. Families will receive an EBT card (which is like a debit card) that can be used to buy eligible food items at participating stores and farmers markets. The number of students who qualify for free meals also affects additional funding for Mary Hogan Elementary School. Many positions at Mary Hogan as well as events and books are available based on the number of eligible students. Please consider applying now even if you haven’t in the past or think you might not qualify. Find application details at tinyurl.com/y9nowktn. If you have questions, please contact Bill Waller, [email protected], or phone 382-1293.
Due to the COVID-19 shutdown an International Baccalaureate team was unable to visit the Addison Central School District in April to verify and potentially authorize its Primary Years Program (PYP). But a “virtual” verification visit has been designed for early June, during which teachers and leaders from all seven ACSD elementary schools will share the work they’ve done to implement the Primary Years Program and become a fully authorized IB PYP school district. There will be opportunities for students and parents to contribute to these virtual meetings and share experiences and observations about IB and the PYP. More details to come.