327 Enfield New Hampshire Public Library

This was a serendipitous stop. My sister and I were headed to Enfield to have dinner with one of her daughters and two grandkids, and we were running early. I didn't have my "collecting notebook" with me, but I did have my camera and a pen. Libraries always have paper. Let's find the library! With directions from a young woman at the local ice cream shop, we headed down the road.

A sign in the parking lot indicated "Future Site of the New Enfield Library." I have to agree that it is needed. Enfield has a small library with an eager staff and very much in need of more space. Much that a library needs is here, but almost every corner is full and crowded! One exception is the room in front with the bay window. This area has a stained glass window with the name Cumings, a pair of very experienced upholstered chairs, periodicals, newspapers, and media, including a good-sized collection of audio books. There is no extra space here, but it does have a comfortable ambience. No patrons were there, but I could readily picture people relaxing in those chairs, reading the paper and comparing opinions.

The space adjacent to this "reading room" is for the youngest kids, with picture books, board books, and stuffed animals. Shelves line the space and many picture books are on free-standing four-sided shelves that I often see; I call them "ABC123" shelves. See the picture below with the "rocket ship," which we moved from a place in the stacks so that I could get the picture. The rocket was built by an adult. (I didn't get the name in my notes, but if someone will leave a comment, I'll update the post.) I wasn't surprised to hear that kids love to huddle in the rocket and read! I wonder if the library has the picture book Rocket Learns to Read?

The rest of the library holds books, books, books. Easy books are on lower shelves in one area, with Shaker Books and New Hampshire Books above them. Several stacks hold fiction and non-fiction; in places, fiction books must be laid horizontally across the top of other books. A sign in the Mysteries section says that more mysteries are available in storage and can be retrieved if desired. Paperback Western books are in several low boxes, spines up. There are sections of J and YA fiction and non-fiction. Two or three computers are available for public use; two for sure, and a third that might be catalog access; it was being used for solitaire when I was there!

There is room for one study table. There is an attractive quilt on the wall. One corner has a microfilm reader and a cabinet of microfilm, including local newspapers.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, but I've seldom seen a library more deserving and more in need of a new facility. I wish you the very best in your fundraising, and I'll be back to see how things are coming along.

For more about this library, visit the website at http://enfieldtownlibrary.org/. I haven't been able to find a Facebook page. If there is one, I hope someone will send me the url so I can add it here.

5/18/15  car, with Mary

Lower level entrance

The cardboard rocket ship and the ABC123 bookshelves