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