The collecting of anecdotes for the library project “Books Have Legs” wraps up on Saturday, January 10th. We’re looking for your thoughts about a book that has been meaningful to you in some way—a book that made a lasting impression, a book you remember with fondness. Perhaps you read it (or it was read to you) as a child, or as a teen, or late in life. Whatever the case, we’d like to hear about it. Please include your name, the title and author of the book, when you read it, and 3 – 10 sentences capturing the importance of the book in your life. You can mail your entry to the Reading Public Library, P.O. Box 7, Reading, VT 05062; email it to [email protected]; or drop off a copy. We welcome the participation of adults and children alike and hope to highlight some of the vignettes in the coming year.
The last book in this year’s first series of book discussions is available for pickup at the library. The discussion will be held on Tuesday, January 20, at 12:30 P.M. The Mistress of Spices is by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It is a magic-realism tale about a woman from India, born in another time in a faraway place, who is given immortality by the gods as long as she remains chaste. Feel free to bring a sack lunch to the discussion.
This year’s second book-discussion series will feature Remembrance of Things Past, the multi-volume novel by Marcel Proust. We will be discussing the first volume, Swann in Love, on Tuesday, February 17. For those who have a Kindle or an iPad with a Kindle app, you can purchase the entire novel for $2.99 at Amazon. Or you can read it online at openculture.com. I also have one copy of the novel at home; and the library has a Kindle with a copy of the novel on it. I will probably be able to get one copy via interlibrary loan, as well.
We’ve sold off or moved out all the books we kept for sale in the Universalist church and will not be accepting new donations of books for awhile. We’d like to thank the historical society, which owns the church, for generously allowing us to hold our summer book sales there the past fifteen or twenty years. Many of you may remember that it was only as a result of the historical society’s permitting us to tap into their well that we were able to put a bathroom in the library. We appreciate their kindnesses to us.
Speaking of the bathroom—when we installed the septic about eight years back, there was considerable excavation near one of the cobblestone cheek walls in the library yard. Over time it resulted in cracks in the mortar. In October we re-positioned a foundation stone to give it more stability, re-pointed the affected mortar, and touched up areas where the cheek walls meet the sidewalk. In addition to this exterior work, the library’s main floor, steps leading to the children’s room, and tops of some shelves have all been sanded, stained, and triple-coated with polyurethane. The floor especially was in pretty rough shape. It is the original hardwood floor (circa 1899), but it now looks as though it were installed yesterday. Stop in and have a little look-see.
Cordially,
Tony