by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian
Our library has a used book sale every month on the third
Saturday. I’ve been hearing that people don’t
know that we have a sale, other than the one held during Watercade. Some local residents are big fans of the
sale; the crowd outside the door when we open on book sale Saturday sometimes
looks like Black Friday.
People donate books, movies, and music to the library all
year long, and we sometimes discard library books and other items that we no
longer need in the library collection.
This all leads to quite a number of things to sell each month. The Friends of the Litchfield Public Library
organize the items for the sale, and the Women’s Study Club work as cashiers at
the sale. The proceeds benefit the
Friends group, which in turn benefits the library.
This month we have many health and fitness books available
to help you with your Litchfield Lite goals.
We always offer a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books for adults
and children, plus VHS movies and a few cassette audiobooks. Sometimes you’ll find DVDs and CDs.
In other library news, you may notice something new on the
wall in the children’s department. We
have a beautiful new bulletin board, donated in memory of Sylvia Altmeyer. Our first display is Dr. Seuss. It’s been fun to see how the bright, lively
bulletin board display has caused a sudden demand for our Dr. Seuss books! We will put our summer reading displays on it
and all kinds of children’s book promotions.
We’re so grateful for this lovely gift.
Another memorial donation the community has been enjoying is
the display case near the library’s front desk.
Pam Dille loaned us her collection of pewter snowflake ornaments this
past month, set up in a beautiful, northern lights-style display. The Jericho Historical Society in Jericho,
Vermont, issues one ornament each year, each one a reproduction of Wilson
“Snowflake” Bentley’s historical photographs.
Bentley was a pioneer in the study of snow crystals. He began photographing snowflakes with a
camera and microscope in 1885, discovering that no two snowflakes were
alike. He captured over 5000 images in
his lifetime. The picture book Snowflake Bentley, about his life and
work, won the Caldecott Medal in 1999.
Do you have a unique collection you’d like to show to the
community in our display case? The case
locks and has adjustable glass shelves.
If you think you’d like to share your collection for a month or so, stop
in to look at the case and talk to me or Linda about whether it would work for
the library. Past displays have included
antique and collectable buttons, custom-made toy soldiers from Germany, and a
historical display on the origins of our library. Think of it as a small museum display, and
maybe you’ll think of something you’d like to showcase.
One final library news item for the week: Mark your
calendars for Minnesota author Erin Hart’s visit to our library a month from
now. She will be here on Thursday, March
14, at 7:00 p.m. Her husband Paddy
O’Brien is an Irish musician who will perform Irish traditional music on
accordion. We’ll have a fun St.
Patrick’s Day event just a few days before the holiday. This is a Legacy-funded event and it is free
for you to attend.
