545 Fiske Free Library, Claremont, New Hampshire

This old cemetery is in the "back yard" of the library, next to the parking space I found. I was very glad to find a parking space, because Claremont has a lot of road work going on, and my gps and I had to deal with some way-finding challenges. What saved us was that the library is a Carnegie library and has the classic Carnegie look--and I saw the building, which made actually arriving at the building much easier.

There wasn't a great place to stand to find an over-all library picture, but I was able to capture the handsome, informative sign.

One feature that marks this as a Carnegie is the entrance with stairs and columns. Most Carnegie libraries are built high to emphasize their importance.

I was greeted by a friendly librarian and readily got permission for wandering and picture-taking. A left turn took me to this short flight of steps which appeared to go to the computer center. 

The adult stacks are classic...and full.

I had recently been discussing how "romance novels" are treated in libraries, and I was surprised to turn a corner and discover an extensive collection of such novels displayed on wall shelves. I venture that at least half of the romance novels in libraries are shelved either on wall shelves, as here, or on "spinner" racks. Can't prove that one way or another; it's just my hunch.

Speaking of spinners, this unusual cabinet holds media; DVDs, I think.

I've mentioned before that libraries have done a great job at providing library-focused crafts and projects despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic. Here's something I hadn't seen before, sheets to color, cut out, fold, and glue to create models of a historic buildings, "Seth Leigh's House" and "Monadnock Mill No. One." I was tempted to pick up copies, as I've done a number of similar projects and I enjoy them. But I left them for the local kids.

Carnegie libraries always  have fireplaces. Most are decorative now, but initially, of course, they were essential to the buildings which are now more than a hundred years old and started life without central heat.

Thanks to current policies, library furnishings are generally limited to wooden surfaces that are easily cleaned. Study tables and chairs are ready to fill the bill.

This just amused me a bit. The stack to the left is pushed up against low window window shelves, the semi-hidden home of a set of law books. With everything digital these days, there is probably little demand for these books!

Periodicals are back on display. The New Yorker and Popular Mechanics suggest the wide range of interests met by this collection. 

Hundred-year-old libraries (give or take a few years) have one problem in common: accessibility. Thanks to ADA, each library has to solve this problem. Here, a small elevator has been tucked into a corner to give access to the lower level.

The Gilmore Room is on the lower level. If you are going to strip down the furnishings to make cleaning easier, there will always be extras that need a temporary home. Fortunately, a meeting room is available for the storage task. I'm sure that everyone is eager for the return to normal.

 

Moving on to the kids' fiction section, I couldn't  miss the blue backs on this large collection of Hardy Boys books. For some reason I seem to see Nancy Drew more often that Hardy Boys. I wonder what kids think of them these days. If they think of them at all!

The largest space on the lower level is the children's library. 

There is an exit here that takes one directly to the cemetery we began with. For special use only!

Local folks made a project of painting murals on the upper walls.

Despite limitations there was a summer reading program. Each kid who participated added a paper link to the "snake" winding its way up the pole.

I'm always on the lookout for materials used in unusual ways. This past year every business and library had to set up barriers to slow the spread of Covid-19. Usually these barriers are Plexiglass; here, it's a transparent shower curtain with a world map. I think this is great!

Although this area is partially below ground level, the windows and light walls make the space bright.

And so I end another tour. When I started this project I never dreamed the time would come when I'd be writing about libraries numbered in the 500's!

 8/23/2021

544 Abbott Library, Sunapee, New Hampshire

This took some perseverance! I kept missing turns and my gps kept trying to fix my route. Eventually I discovered an information booth staffed with a very helpful person. She even drew me a map, and once I was headed in the right direction, the rest was easy. The library is definitely worth the effort.

The entrance with its stately columns...and bunting...gives more than a nod to classic library architecture.

Behind those columns, on the left, is this sheltered area for reading or just hanging out...when it's cooler than it was on the day I was there!

A sign in the entryway sums up the library's beginnings. A visit to the library website will give you a concise but more detailed version. I recommend it.

Abbott Library

Built 1926

from 

Funds Bequeathed

1918

by

Martha Abbott

in Memory of

her Husband

Almeron B Abbott

A large service desk isn't pictured because it was staffed, and you know...no people in the pictures! I could have taken a picture of the "conscience box," where patrons can, if they wish, make a donation in lieu of an overdue fine. 

I got permission to take pictures and headed left. Around the first corner was this nice aquarium.

Remember that reading area by the front door? Here's a sunnier, breezier, version on the other side of the building.

As I came into the children's area I saw this bulletin board which struck me as unusual because it is made of metal. Some magnets can be seen holding the trees in place, and plenty more are available at the left. What a neat way to create readily-revised displays!

A corner for parents, whether home schooling or not, provides materials for learners and guidance for adults who plan to teach reading. That barely visible poster provides guidance to the various levels of reading materials.

Beyond the "learning to read" materials I found the Youth section. All of the fiction is labeled "J" on the spine, though I spotted some titles I might classify "YA" for Young Adult. Shelves throughout the library are labeled consistently with these handsome lighthouse signs.

I do think that these days it must be difficult to classify fiction for kids. Authors who generally write for adults try their hands at books that will hook their readers early. Topics that would have been unheard of even a decade ago are now common. I'm glad that I don't have to make these decisions!

Non-fiction books are shelved by topic, with signs to aid in finding specific topics.

These book and activity bags have a sign asking that you only open the bags at home, not at the library. This brought back memories of trying to sort out opened kits on the library floor. The more pieces, the more...fun?

We are still in pandemic days, though progress is being made. Different libraries have different guidelines.  The small text at the bottom basically enjoins the reader to consider their own status and think of the needs of others.

Another common library issue. Many patrons like to be helpful and reshelf books they have browsed. Books might end up in the right place...or not. Here, please leave such books on top of the shelves. "We'll take it from there." 

When I came to the adult section, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw moveable shelves. This is only the third library, I think where I have seen similar shelves that allow much more storage--with access-- in the same space as traditional ones. There may be some where the shelves are not open to the public. The biggest array I've seen is at the Minneapolis library, where the shelves are moved electronically. It was just the best surprise to find these here!

You may have figured out by now that I have a special interest in signs. I'm sure librarians would be happy to shelve all books between knee and shoulder height, but even with the compression of moveable shelves, this just isn't practical. All the shelves I saw here were reasonable in height, but here's a very classy way to let people who need an assist know that they only need to ask.

A fireplace in a library provides a great focal point for programs or simply reading. In ordinary times a fireplace would likely be surrounded with comfy chairs, but not these days. The chairs will be back, I'm sure.

Raise your hand if you've ever seen rods like this in use. Extra points if you've ever had the job of sliding newspaper sections into the rods. They were awkward, but they did a good job of keeping newspaper sections in place.

Some people get their periodical fix electronically, but there are still many who would rather flip through "real pages."

I've tried to train myself to always look up before I leave a library. As here, I'm often rewarded with a special architectural detail.

Near the door there are notices of various sorts and also some jigsaw puzzles. Based on their location, I assume the puzzles are available to borrow without formalities.

Like most of the libraries I've visited in the last year and a half, Sunapee has provided Take and Make Craft Kits! I've been impressed by the creativity and effort that has gone into maintaining the "library habit" during a time when in-person visits were curtailed or even cancelled.

A look back before I leave; a chance to wonder if I have to be concerned about those clouds. [It turned out that I did not.]

 8/23/2021

543 Wadleigh Memorial Library, Milford, New Hampshire

 My sister Jean was treating me to a birthday breakfast at a favorite spot in Milford, which gave me a perfect chance to visit a library. My past experience with Milford had been either (in my childhood, when someone else was driving) the town square that had to be negotiated on the way to ice cream, or the busier town square, as a passenger, on the way to breakfast.  On this occasion, I used my gps to find my way to a street off the town square, where a puzzle awaited me. The gps said I had arrived "on the right," but a building with a LIBRARY sign caught my attention on the left.

Minor mystery solved: the "new" library is on the right. It was so satisfying to figure this out, I never did take an exterior picture of the library, except for the little bit you can see below.  A long walk up the to the building provides a Storywalk; I learned that a new storywalk would be installed soon.

I was a bit past the library when I realized I needed to park. I had missed the driveway up to the parking lot, so I parked on the street and walked up the drive.

Here's my excuse for not taking exterior pictures: I was charmed and intrigued by the "doorbell" provided for patrons coming for curbside pickup and looking for a touch-free option in these days of COVID-19.

Just about every library I've visited in the past year or so has found a way to maintain programs beyond the basic lending of books. Here's a set of take-and-make activities for all ages.

The best place to be this past year has been out in the fresh air, away from groups of people. "Explore the Great Outdoors Bingo" is an intriguing activity that will fill a good chunk of time for an individual or family group.

New books are spread out face-front on these long shelves, giving maximum exposure and appeal.

I've often seen revolving racks like these used to display paperback books (especially romance novels, for some reason). Here they are used for DVDs

The adult stacks go on and on.

The physical reference books are a dying breed, but almost every library I've been to has retained at least a  modest collection.  

The current periodicals in their plastic covers reflect the camera's flash. Like reference works, physical paper periodicals seem to be a dying breed, but digital versions have not replaced them yet. A scan of the periodical collection in any given library is an interesting guide to the interests and ideas of the local patrons.

Every time period has its controversies, and a library worth its salt will provide material for patrons of all stripes. And hopefully those patrons will accept the idea that all sides of an issue will be represented. I liked this sign in the non-fiction stacks

A companion piece on the end of a nearby stack reminds users that "Our Library has SCIENCE ONLINE." And one advantage of a library is that there will be staff who can help you find reliable answers to your science questions.

Now we enter the children's area of the library. This extensive Hogwarts model is made of light cardboard by someone who spent a lot of time and took a lot of care. I have cut-and-glued some smaller buildings, just for fun and I have immense respect for whoever did this project.

Here is an interesting solution to a modest problem. Let's say you want to display the nominees for a book award. No problem, just put each book on a rack. But then readers start to check out these books, leaving the display rather bare. But here, each rack holds a laminated copy of the book jacket that stays on the rack when the book is taken. Several of the titles caught my attention, and I now have them on request at my home library.

I had a young co-worker at my post-retirement job as a library page. He was a very bright high school kid. Nice boy. But he and I had one big point of difference concerning children's series books. He, who had probably been reading by the age of three, thought series were totally lame, boring, the same characters over and over. Why would a kid waste time on them? I did not have access to series in my childhood, at least not until I was able to read Walter Farley horse stories. I tried to convince my young colleague that kids for whom reading did not come so easily as it did to him were aided by those familiar characters, similar plots, common vocabulary. We agreed to disagree...or maybe we just dropped the subject. This was quite a while ago.

Well, all of that just to tell you that here at Milford the series books are shelved with the rest of fiction. And title lists are posted on the shelves to lead kids to their favorites.

[Disclosure: I like series. My "Covid-19 project" has been reading all of Robert Parker's Spenser novels in order. I have just about six left to go.]

I believe that this started as an adult program during the long months that browsing in the library was not allowed. Here it's been extended to elementary school kids. Give the librarians some hints about what you like to read, and they'll come back at you with a box of books, yummy snacks, and "fun items." A great way to maintain the library habit for kids (and adults).

Here's an example of a shelf marker for readers of series:

Outdoor amenities include these picnic tables with umbrellas.

As we saw in the adult section, new picture books are displayed with the bright covers forward.

This unusually-shaped table provides several workspaces. I've never seen one like this before.

This mural is on the wall above the wavy red table.

Graphic novels have their own space. I am learning to enjoy graphic books but so far I prefer non-fiction, like Alison Bechdel's books, to novels.

My sister met me at the library and we walked to our breakfast. I'm glad we did, because that walk took us past these children reading on a boulder in the park.

      

8/9/2021