Walking into the Holmes Public Library in Halifax is, in itself, a feel-good experience. A bright, cheery atmosphere with a friendly greeting immediately upon entering and the visual of seemingly endless books, proudly displayed art projects, and community members engaged in their various tasks gives an “all is right with the world in this space” kind of feel. Such a feeling can be hard to come by in times like ours, but the library is one space you can count on for all to feel and be welcome in the truest sense.
Overseeing this altruistic, community realm is Dylan Benoit -the new Director of the Holmes Public Library. Benoit has taken the Holmes Library to new and exciting heights in the short time he has been there. Though his path to this career was not linear, it is obvious that his can-do attitude and belief in the importance of education warrant him perfectly suited for his newfound role.
Benoit attended Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School and has a varied background. He earned a degree in graphic design and attended the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he earned a psychology degree in 2016 and a history degree in 2018. After being a teacher for youth who could not attend public school due to mental health issues, and then teaching history at his former high school, Benoit found he did not agree with the teaching methods, styles, and philosophies schools rely on as the standard.
Benoit came to appreciate and understand the importance of positive guidance and redirection when needed to help kids and teens improve habits now so that they were free from the oft-dire consequences later on in life if good habits are not fostered at a young age. “I tried to help students understand that it is easier to form good habits and fix bad ones in your youth because your brain is literally more malleable, flexible, and constructive right now than it ever will be again. The brain actually becomes rigid and set in its pathways as we age -meaning that when we are young, our brains explore new networks and adaptations, but when we are older it mostly defines, refines, and perfects the pathways we have already established.”
Benoit found that he yearned for an environment where learning and education were more self-directed rather than mandated so that it was more meaningful and suited to the unique strengths, interests, and talents of each person. “My wife was working at the Taunton Library and it dawned on me that the perfect education system, where all the pieces of information are available in one place to be sought out and put together in a meaningful way through self-discovery-is a library.” Benoit started working at the library in 2022. He worked at the Taunton and Marion Libraries and then moved to the Avon Library. Within a year and a half, Benoit was made the Assistant Director of the Avon Library.
Upon the retirement of longtime library director Jean Gallant, Benoit was approached to apply for the position of Director of the Holmes Public Library. With their first child expected weeks after the hire date of July 16, 2025, Benoit was hired and given some initial time off to be with his wife and new baby boy.
Benoit began to enhance the Holmes Public Library right away. A myriad of programs, classes, and uniquely tailored interest groups formed and started to meet regularly. Benoit’s founding beliefs in personal growth, backed by methods in clinical psychology and the humanistic psychology movement, have turned the Holmes Public Library into a true learning center where books are just one way to discover. “I was inspired by the concepts in Carl Rogers book, On Becoming a Person. It is all about a growth-promoting environment for our patrons that helps people find their place in the library.” Benoit has focused the library programming on helping patrons of all ages feel welcome, valued, capable, and affirmed of their abilities and potential.
The results for such an individualized focus for patrons has taken the attendance at library programs to unprecedented levels. “Our programs have so many attendees now that we are struggling to keep sufficient staff and resources to hold them,” Benoit explains, “One of our workshops recently had 85 people attend, and an average book club has about 25 people -whereas the other libraries I was working at considered it a success to have four people show up. We have had a 10-20% increase in program attendance, but no increase in staff or resources to keep up with the demands.”
The groups and classes at the Holmes Public Library range from the common, but beloved, book clubs and writer’s workshops, to composting classes and seminars on finances. You can learn about cooking in the Cookbook Club where Benoit prepares a dish to share with attendees from the book featured, or how to implement suspense in your writing via the twice-a-month, online Author’s Talks where well-known authors give classes on mastering the craft and patrons can ask the author two questions each. All of these programs are created, run, and promoted by a staff of five and made possible and funded by the Friends of the Holmes Public Library, as there is no budget to pay for these classes and workshops independently.
The Holmes Public Library’s boost in popularity, and the reawakened valuing of it, has also proven that it more than pays for itself in services to the community. In 2025, there was a budget of about $350,000 for expenses. Benoit says that cost was outperformed by a long shot in the value of services rendered. “We saved and were valued at $860,000 last year in terms of media checked out, services offered, and money saved in the community. We were getting about 3,000 views on Facebook each day, and we are averaging about 35-40,000 visits from patrons in our community each year.”
The belief the libraries are just for books is challenged more each year as libraries expand their offered media and services. The Holmes Public Library is diversifying its classes and workshops to include farming and gardening -as a great interest in this topic has been expressed by the community. “Our summer reading program began in March this year because the theme is ‘Plant a Seed, Read’, so we wanted to take patrons on a learning journey starting with planting seeds in the spring and watching them grow and learning how to tend a garden as the season progresses.”
The Holmes Public Library also offers a free Seed Library and the circulation desk assistant is enrolled in the Massachusetts Master Gardener Program and willing and able to chat all things garden with patrons who are ready to learn. Benoit wants to further this learning experience and connection with the natural world in the future. “We are going to put a raised garden bed in the front of the library and grow some food to be used in the cookbook classes where I would love to eventually secure the permitting and financing to purchase and install a small stove in the library so that cooking demonstrations can take place using the food we have grown on-site,” Benoit says enthusiastically, “And if that goes well, we would love to install a little community garden in the front of the library with multiple raised beds and some fencing to keep the plants safe.”
Another focus Benoit has for the Holmes Public Library is to draw in age groups that are less frequent patrons of the library. “If we can offer video game rentals at the library, it not only is a good idea financially for parents and players to check out and trial a game before buying it, but it gets a lot of teens in the library. Video games were one of the most checked out things at the libraries I worked at before. I think we need to explore that option.”
Regardless of services and media offered, patrons make up the most important aspect of a library. Benoit points out, “A library is only as good as its patrons. We have a great combination of an amazing staff, a very supportive Friends Program, and a strong group of regulars that we see every week. It makes this library really personal and unique.”
Unfortunately, with town finances looking bleak and cuts looming in various town budgets, the Holmes Public Library is “on the chopping block” for budget and staffing cuts. “We are already really struggling to keep up with the huge increase in demand for library services with no increase in staff or budget,” Benoit explains, “It is a shame that the value of the library in offering not just the usual things, but free things in a time where money is tight for all, is being overlooked. We save community members money with free media rentals and with our Library of Things where you can check out items you might use once in a while but they are expensive to purchase. We have things like museum passes, workshops to teach job and life skills, free access to the internet and hotspots -there are lots of things here that can save people money.”
Financial value aside, the Holmes Public Library is far more than a municipal building with material things inside -it is a learning center and refuge for the community -a gathering place where a price or budget cannot be placed on what can be gained there in enrichment and enlightenment. When asked what he hopes people take away from their experience at the Holmes Public Library, Benoit says, “That today is a good day to make a good habit. Fight the good fight with yourself. Education is freedom and it makes life a lot better for ourselves and everyone else.”
With society increasing in chaos and volume, and situations often seeming beyond our control, Benoit has some sage advice, “When you are feeling depressed and hopeless, the most beneficial thing you can do for your mental health is to go and do something kind for others. It creates a positive pathway in your brain that helps you realize and feel that you are a good person -and that makes it easier to love yourself. Here at the library, we spend our days helping our community and it makes us happy.” So, if you are in need of a pick-me-up on a day when you are struggling or feeling a bit gloomy, then it is an especially good day to visit the library. Everyone there is ready and willing to help, and you will find that regular visits to the library are one of the best good habits you can form.

Last fall, I took my friends Tina Palmer and Dorothy Greene for a walk at Bay Farm. After the walk, I proposed the idea of hiking the southern loop of the Bay Circuit Trail. The full Bay Circuit trail is a 242+ mile walking trail stretching from Kingston and Duxbury around Boston up to Plum Island in Newburyport. The southern portion of the BCT has a 26+ mile loop that travels through Duxbury, Kingston, and Pembroke. With conflicting schedules and unforeseen circumstances, we only were able to complete the Kingston portion of the Bay Circuit Trail over 7 short walks before winter struck.
The BCT in Kingston is a treasure trove of natural beauty and historical landmarks. The notable feature that weaves through this whole section of BCT is the Jones River. The southern terminus of the trail is in Kingston at Bay Farm along Kingston Bay which is to where the Jones River flows. Walking slightly further along the trail will take you down to the Town Landing on River St. near the mouth of the river where Kingston residents can launch boats.
Continuing to the other end of River St. brings you to beautiful Mulliken’s Landing which was named after Robert Mulliken who was a long time Kingston resident active on both the Conservation Committee and Open Space Committee. Carry-top boats are able to launch from a dock after walking a few hundred feet along a boardwalk through a marsh.
Turning left onto Landing Rd., a short way, the BCT continues on a bridge over Stoney Brook, a tributary of the Jones River. A feasibility study was completed in 2025 to explore the possibility of removing a dam here so that American eel could utilize the brook, reduce flood risk, and potentially reduce mosquitoes in upstream swamp areas.
Shortly after crossing the bridge on the left is the Jones River Landing, home base for the Jones River Watershed Association. If you stop in here as you walk by, you might meet Pine DuBois who has been a tenacious environmental advocate for the river and its history for decades. At the Jones River Landing Boatshop, a group of volunteers are building a Kingston Lobster Boat, a boat first built about 150 years ago.
The next mile or so of the BCT goes by many historical sites in Kingston, The Major John Bradford Homestead, the Reed Community Building, the Faunce School, Evergreen Cemetery, and The First Parish Church before again reaching the Jones River at Elm St. where the Queen Anne style waterworks building built in 1888 is located.
A dam, located here for nearly a century, was removed in 2019. Immediately over the bridge to the left is the Jones River Trading Post which is currently an event venue but at one time held the E.P. Hurd Tack Factory. Not too long ago, Coughlin and Coughlin inhabited this building, where customers could wander through and purchase exotic items like ostrich eggs and beautiful ceramic stoves or they could pop a nickel in a player piano.
The BCT continues directly across the street through narrow root-laden trails at the Sampson Park and Faunce Memorial Forest. In the fall, the trails were dry. This time of year, they can be hard to navigate if water levels are high. At one point along these trails, we crossed an extremely rickety crooked wooden bridge that spans Furnace Brook, a tributary of the Jones River. The end of this section takes you out beside the northern side of a Kingston Water Department building located along South St.
The next mile or so of the BCT is along both South St. and then heading west along Route 106 -both of these streets are very busy. The beautiful part of hiking this section in the fall was witnessing the fall harvest of cranberries. The Jones River flows along the northern side of the bogs on the north side of Route 106.
After walking just past the cranberry bogs, the trail enters Hathaway Preserve. The BCT trail crosses Jones River in the Preserve. Other trails in this conservation area offer further exploration of the Jones River because more than a mile of the river flows through it.
The exit for the BCT trail from Hathaway Preserve north of the Jones River can be found along a section of power lines at Foxworth Ln. which then leads to Grove St. Here the hike continues east along Grove St. After a short way, the road goes over Pine Brook and then the MBTA track. The trail continues on Grove St. about another mile before entering the Cranberry Watershed Preserve on your right. Walking a couple hundred feet further along Grove St. instead of going immediately into this preserve, a large old culvert can be found on the left with the Jones River flowing through it. Last fall was the dry season so little water was flowing through it.
The Cranberry Watershed Preserve is 307 acres. The BCT has almost a mile of trail through it but the preserve has several more miles of other trails. A glimpse of the Jones River can be found at the edge of one of the old bogs. The trail in this area also goes through the woods by the playing fields at Silver Lake Regional High School. The culmination of the section is a long boardwalk in need of some repairs and a metal bridge over the Jones River. Exiting the preserve leads to a parking area on Lake St.
Crossing Lake St. here will take you to where the Jones River begins at the Forge Pond Dam. Walking up the hill towards Silver Lake Regional High School, the BCT takes a left onto Route 27 and then after ⅓ mile take a left onto Sheridan Dr. Walking a little further, look closely for BCT signage to cut between two houses on the right to enter Silver Lake Sanctuary.
Silver Lake Sanctuary contains 104 acres with trails that lead down to Silver Lake. The waters of Silver Lake naturally flow through to Forge Pond if not diverted to Brockton. The BCT continues through this beautiful property and then onto Bearses Lane, a dirt road leading back out to Route 27.
Just a few feet west on Route 27 is the Kingston/Pembroke town line which concludes the Kingston portion of the BCT. This whole Kingston section of the BCT, if going straight through is less than 10 miles, but it is great to wander in some of the preserves on additional trails to see the full beauty of these natural wonderlands, and with more time it would have been nice to linger in some of the historical buildings to learn more about the history of Kingston.

In April and May, the Jones River Watershed Association is looking for fish counters at the Forge Pond Dam. If interested, go to their website jonesriver.org. Kingston is celebrating its 300th anniversary. Check out the kingston300.com for more details and/or try to get a copy of “Tales of Jones River Village: Kingston’s 300 Years.”
Lastly, if interested in hiking the BCT, go to baycircuit.org and find both maps and map guides. The map guide is essential and even with the guide finding the trail, can at times, seem like a scavenger hunt when looking for the next trail marker.
I am hoping that Tina, Dorothy and I can complete the southern loop in 2026.