534 Hill Public Library, Hill, New Hampshire

OK, we're not quite at the library yet. I didn't trust my GPS, so I stopped at a general store and found this outside. The library is very close; I'd call it a stone's throw away, but I throw like a girl who went through school before Title IX. In other words, I can't throw worth a darn.

This isn't the library, either. but it was at one time.

THIS is the library. At one time it was the elementary school, but in 2004 the buildings were switched. The library goes back 125 years; take a look at its history here: https://hillpubliclibrary.com/about/

The town of Hill has an interesting story. Visit here: http://www.hillhistoricalsociety.com/ to learn about the relocation of the town to provide flood control in the 1940s.

I really like the detailing at the front door. 

The sign and another Little Free Library. Let's go in.

In honor of the election (I assume), the library is hosting a collection of old campaign buttons.

I peeked into a couple of the catalog drawers and saw that they are still packed with cards. I forgot to ask, but assume these are no longer kept up to date, replaced with a computer catalog. 

You'd be surprised how many libraries I visit that have popcorn machines for movie night! They frequently look like this: 

Hill surprises with an older popcorn maker that reminds me of the one from my childhood in Nashua.

Oversized books have their own display in a sturdy wooden unit. Just to the right (I thought I had a picture) are Youth Biographies, Youth Reference, and Early Reader Reference. With the school right next door, it's nice to have a good collection of non-fiction for kids.

Here's another corner of the children's area.

I spotted a bin of ice skates under a table. Why not? Vermont libraries often have snowshoes. And Hill has a nice skating pond just across the street. I saw on the library web site that summertime story programs are held by the pond; now there will be a new seasonal activity!

Every modern library has a collection of technology. If you look closely you can see the plexiglass barrier separating the two monitors.

I'm a fan of maps, so I was pleased to see this rug in the children's area.

Take another close look and you'll see that the shelves are all on casters, allowing maximum flexibility for library programs. Excellent idea!

The final picture I took gives another view of the "tech center." I see that I have missed the coffee station, the books for adults, media...  I don't know what caused me to miss so much. Anyway, if you're in the Hill area, stop in and say Hi to the librarian. She's been there for 18 years and counting!

 11/13/2020

533 Public Library, Merrimack, New Hampshire

In general I like to visit libraries on nice sunny days, the better to enjoy the ride. But one drizzly day about a week ago, I just wanted to get out of the apartment. So, with my GPS set to avoid highways, I meandered to Merrimack. Although I grew up not too far from here, I'd never been to this library. I knew it only as a building up on a bit of a hill next to route 3. And I hadn't realized that the original building has a nice modern addition.

When introducing myself to staff and getting permission to take pictures, I learned that, like many libraries these days, the building would be closing at noon for cleaning; I had about 20 minutes! 

I headed off on a clockwise tour of the main floor. The first thing I noticed was a "library of things," something I haven't seen often lately. It wasn't called this, as I recall, but there was quite a variety of techie devices available for loan, including a couple of Nintendo gaming systems!

The "things" available include cake pans. This took me down memory lane, as the first place I saw a library lending cake pans was Nashua, Iowa. I've seen them in many places since then, but not recently for some reason.

Near the cake pans is a set of pages showing games that are available for loan. Most places where I've seen games in libraries they are either available for use on-site or simply on shelves for check-out. Merrimack's system would be much more reliable, I think, than keeping them on open shelves. When I last worked in a library, one of the minor pains was checking-in items like "Fun with Phonics" to make sure that all the bits and pieces had been returned. I wonder if staff here have to do that with all the game pieces?

The non-fiction stacks have enough cookbooks to keep the whole town eating well!

Periodicals are available, but in keeping with the Covid-19 rules, hanging out and browsing are not encouraged; note the lack of the usual comfy seating.

BYOL: Bring your own laptop.

The location of new books and media is eye-catching!

Speaking of media, there is plenty.

Plenty of DVDs to while away hours of quarantine.

At this point I came to a room in the old part of the building, "Staff Only Quarantine Area." Every library I'm aware of has set up an area to quarantine books that have been returned.

A view through the window to the quarantine room caused me a double-take. Very clear after a good look, but for me, it took a couple of seconds to recognize the gloves.

One area is set aside for teens. Many libraries have provided grab bags for the pre-school and elementary set; this is one of the few places where I've seen this kind of programming for teens. Sorry that the poster is not legible; it says that each bag contains two books, a snack, and a craft. Return the books, the craft materials and snack are for the young person to keep. Really neat programming.

Remember that I had only 20 minutes? Now I'm down to about 10, and I've headed downstairs to the children's area. Here I found a couple of staff and we got talking about programming, kids' reactions to not having the usual toys available, things like that. Meaning that I started taking pictures here just as the "we're closing" announcements started.

I clearly didn't do the space justice.

Seeing the announcement of the Great Stone Face Book Award winner reminded me that I want to read it. So I just went to the website of my home library and requested it. Aren't computers wonderful?

There is a nice collection of picture books and J fiction and non-fiction.

There is a mystery here. Earlier today I wrote my entry for Newton, NH, and the entire post was underlined...and I have no idea why. Likewise, I have no idea why this post got off on the right foot and maintained normal formatting throughout. Honestly, I thought I approached this one in exactly the same way. One of those computer mysteries (to me). If anyone has a theory, feel free to leave me a comment!

Back in the car, the pause for a red light allowed me to grab this quick shot of the older part of the building. I can't complain about the rain since NH is in a state of drought this year.

 

532 Community Library, Kingston, New Hampshire

On a beautiful day in mid-October, I headed out on two missions: to buy a climbing tree for the cats and to visit a library. Success for the cat tree, not so much for the library. But there was a compensation. Read on [And excuse the formatting, apparently blogspot is exerting itself again and I can't find a way bend it to my will.]

The library was to be a stop on the way home with the new pieces for the cats. I had carefully checked the hours that it would be open, but, oops I changed the day of the week for my travels and did not re-check the open hours. So, I got to the library and discovered that it was closed. My error. As I've done in the past, I decided to do what I could from the exterior. First, the handsome entryway, where I discovered the open hours.Me, standing outside capturing my own reflection...

...and finally walking out front to capture the library sign.

After taking note of the neat way the book drops are integrated into the entryway, and leaving a "Sorry I missed you" card about the blog, I headed back to my car. At this point, a sign caught my eye.

A nature walk is behind the library. I'd been driving quite a bit and I was ready for some exercise, so I headed for the starting point. Here I learned that the trail was the work of a Girl Scout troop!

I was impressed by the documentation of the trail, and also by the approach to making it covid-19 safe. For example, at the bottom of this display there are four numbered tags; each person or group can take a tag, which will limit the number of people on the trail at one time. Also, there are a couple of papers with challenges, and an envelope of pencils, which you are encouraged to keep, rather than trying to clean them between uses.

I decided to take a little walk.

In addition to nature, fitness is encouraged by a series of signs like this. [These are similar to the fairytale exercise walk in Moultonboro.]Another set of posters is provided by the power company, I believe, and features the bright yellow "Sasquatch" with tips for saving energy.

Someone has been trying out some lashing skills to make the framework of a shelter! That's not something you see every day!

Sasquatch says good-bye.

I'll end with a couple of cat pictures because...why not? Here's Jerry checking out the new short scratching post.

Frankie figures out how to reach the top level of the "tree..."

...and decides that being five feet up in the air is just fine, thank you!

...If you're looking for some top-quality cat furniture, take a look at arubacat.com. Good stuff, sold by a nice guy named Arty. No, I don't get a cut!

531 Public Library, Chester, New Hampshire

Leaving Raymond, I had another scenic ride to Chester, where I found their library fresh from a recent renovation. It's great to find so many libraries that are either new or updated. Not all, of course, but the trend where I have travelled is clearly to support and modernize community libraries.

Note that the font here is normal. From this point, Blogger takes over and applies the font of its choice. There is a pull-down menu with several choices of format, but after the first picture there will be formats intended for headings. Even though I highlight the text and choose "Normal" from the menu, they remain headings. If anyone knows of a fix or a work-around, please let me know.

As I came into Chester, I began to notice --well, one could hardly miss them--various figures standing about. Not scarecrows, but, well, take a look. I learned that these are a fall fundraiser for the local history society. One person creates the heads, then local folks buy them (that's the fundraiser part), complete them, and stand them up around town. I was here in late September and I understand that their numbers will continue to grow, until they are all taken down at the end of October. Most are humans: a wedding party, historical figures, etc., but several are book characters, as you see here.

It's always nice to see a library sign announcing "We Are Open!" Hopefully, with the steps that are taken (hand sanitizer, masks required, social distancing in effect, plexi barriers strategically placed) they will be able to remain open.I didn't track down the rest of the pictures, but it appears that a storywalk has been installed.

Libraries often provide opportunities to give back to the community. I spotted these baskets, collection points for the SPCA and the local food shelf.

This glass-fronted book shelf holds Chester town reports dating back to 1843.

It's not just blogger; my camera also has a mind of its own. Once in a while it decides that a picture should be in portrait mode although I take the picture in landscape. There is a fix, but I need to apply it while the picture is still in the camera, and in this case, I missed one. This is the browsing and periodical area.

Here's a corner of the children's area. I believe this is in the newest part of the library. It's a bit unusual to find an upholstered chair these days. It is not unusual to see that all toys have been put away.

Here's a long view of the children's area. One of the books displayed in the foreground was so intriguing, I jotted down the title and got it from my local library. The title is "This Way, Charlie," and it's about the friendship between a goat and a horse. Since I no longer have a kindergarten class to read to, I read it to the cats. They appeared to like it.

I once thought that every New England library has a grandfather clock and every midwestern library has at least one quilt. I've since discovered too many examples that bely the generalization. And look: the format is normal. No, I don't know why.

DVDs and recorded books are available, of course. And here we are again with the format.

It's always fun to spot a stereopticon. When I was a kid growing up in Nashua, Miss Manning had a few stereopticons and bunches of cards; when she was in a good mood, she'd set these out in the children's room and we would enjoy this forerunner of the Viewmaster. Actually, if you do something with your eyes, which I can do but can't explain, you can get the stereo effect without a device.Teens get special attention here with a "Make and Take" craft involving duct tape. I often see make and take activities for younger kids; this provision for teens is quite unusual.

I spotted this sign about an Escape Room. These are increasingly common, but I'm not at all tempted. I'm sure that I would never be able to solve the puzzles and get out! Or, not solve the puzzles and feel stupid.

Here's a longer shot of the teen area. Clearly, someone here is paying a lot of attention to this age group. Good for you, "Someone!"

A guide to the upper level:

These days, patrons are not encouraged to linger in most libraries. But it's nice to see that space for lingering is still available.

The desk in the corner is c. 1830, almost 200 years old..

Two reasons for this picture. First, I like the iron book stand. Second, I like Dewey Readmore Books, the abandoned kitten from Spencer, Iowa, who grew up to be a famous Library Cat. I never met Dewey; he died in 2006 at age 19. But I visited the Spencer library a few years ago as part of this project.

9/24/2020