Now for a real change of pace, we'll start with lunch. We need to start with lunch because a) we're hungry, and b) the Bartlett library doesn't open until 2 PM. We got some suggestions from the library director in Jackson, and chose Sunrise Shack because we liked the name. It was a good choice: They have a very interesting breakfast and lunch menu from which I chose a burger with spicy peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!
(The picture does not do it justice.)
With great timing we arrived at the Bartlett library at 1:57. Mary parked the car and I walked in with the librarian. As I knew from the library's website, it is inside the elementary school. In fact, The Bartlett Public Library is a shared facility with the Josiah Bartlett Elementary School library and is located in the Josiah Bartlett Elementary School. I recall only two other libraries in my travels that served as both a school and public library. Both are (were?) high schools, one in Michigan and one in Wisconsin.
I chatted a bit with the library staff, discussing my project and the layout of the library. Then I started looking around. First I went to this corner of the library for the littlest kids. I like the rug that encourages imaginative play with an outdoor theme. And the mural is wonderful.
That's the door to the school at the rear. The two tables mark the transition between the children's area we just saw, the school, and the "public library" part of the library.
Moving into the adult area I found a couple of study carrels with computers.
The "office" part of the library is to the left here, with the ubiquitous telescope that you find in every New Hampshire library. Well, every one I've visited so far!
Here's an attractive and comfortable-looking area for the library visitors.
...and at about this point the visit got a little crazy. The staff was notified that there would be a fire drill in just a minute or two! I snapped a picture of Abe Lincoln on my way to the door, with a hasty good-bye over my shoulder. In the parking lot I was quickly directed to the car, where Mary and Lynn had already been returned. And there we sat in a short row of cars, waiting to be allowed to leave. We assumed that we were waiting for a representative of the fire department to arrive, and we wondered how that would be handled in an area where, we assumed, the fire department would be all-volunteer.
After a time that was certainly not as long as it felt the staff decided that we were not part of the action and we were allowed to leave right now, which we did.
So I have a new addition for the "something I haven't see in a library" list: a fire drill!
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Sorry about the "verification" step; I added it after a rash of spammish comments.