How the (Little) Pros Do It

We're hoping you won't recognize this scenario, but we know that some of you will: on a Friday or Saturday, the mail comes, and in it is an overdue notice from us. What gives? You returned those books and DVDs last week, and on time!

We are undergoing an awkward period in NPL history: too many books are being shelved without being checked in. Our collective faces are burning red!

We meet as a staff about the problem. We conference on the run. Lucinda orders triple-checks, one above the usual double check. How do they slip through our systems? The last thing anyone needs is an overdue notice on returned books!

There is one thing we ask of patrons: when you're in the library, please use the book return slot. We have found that books left on the counter have occasionally ended up on shelves. This doesn't account for all our mistakes, but we'll know where the returned books are. Putting them through the slot doesn't injure the books. And don't worry about our back as we stoop to pull them out. We'll survive! Sometimes we find books on the counter, and we don't know why they are there.

So take a lesson from our young patrons, Caleb and Madeleine Zuckerman, and use the slot!

And thanks!

NPL Volunteer Spotlight: Connie Cadow

If you're new to town and want to meet interesting people, meet (or become!) a library volunteer. I am continually amazed by the talents and experiences of NPL volunteers.

It's a warm day, but cool air greets us as I follow Connie Cadow down into her basement. After months of talking about gardening and plants, I've asked to see Connie's greenhouse set-up, since I can't quite imagine it. A greenhouse in the basement?

There, among boxes marked Family Pictures and other treasures of time, are Connie's secret for getting the jump on spring: rows of grow-lights, trays of young marigolds, snapdragons, ageratum, and petunias are glowing; tiny basil seedlings are just pushing through. On a table next to the lights is a notebook, with meticulous records on planting dates and germination rates. One day the seedlings were under several suspended lights; the next day, when I returned to take pictures, she'd moved them over to where her husband had set up a hydroponic operation. She's since converted it to more growing space. "Hydroponics have never excited me as much," she explains.

We wandered back upstairs to Connie's quilting set-up: a handsome sewing machine and long counters for spreading out her projects. She's been part of a group meeting at Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction for the last four years, her projects growing with her expertise. "I gave my grandson a big box of cloth squares last year," she said as she held up the handsome quilt that they were in the process of becoming.

Connie also enjoys a standing date with son Ken, also a Norwich resident, for Western square dancing. They head up to Bradford every week. "It's becoming a lost art," she lamented. "We have just enough people for three full squares."

Most of all, Connie's greatest interest is her family. Pictures of children and grandchildren are everywhere, and she often scoots home from the library in time to welcome them into her home. Last year she and granddaughter Charlotte Cadow teamed up to staff the circulation desk.

Gardener, craftswoman, library volunteer, family woman: Connie Cadow is a special part of Norwich.

More Grim News on the Pet Food Front

My closest friend is a California librarian whose motto is "Information is my life." It's always been good for a chuckle between us, though it's certainly true. In libraries, information is the product.

Now it seems that, more than ever, information is crucial to the preservation of lots of lives, especially for those who are in no position to act on it.

The FDA now tells us that the pet food scandal is getting worse instead of better. Here are the latest FDA figures:

* Total reports of illness or death: 17,000

* Total cats reported dead: 1950

* Total dogs reported dead: 2,200

These figures depart wildly from those reported during our last posting. The number of brands has jumped, including some "premium" brands found at our local feed outlets, and certainly the "store" brands at such places as Wal Mart and Price Chopper.

Itchmo has additional, vital information.

Please follow the link in the headline above to the specific information that will help you to keep your pets safe. And share information with your friends and family, here and far away. There's an update of withdrawn brands at the circulation desk, too. Check it out.

Hearts and Hands

If you want to fall in love with a whole group of people at one time, get to know some volunteers.

It's often said that busy people get more done, and that has to be the case with our bunch.

They're from everywhere: England, France, Holland, Scotland, and beautiful downtown Vermont. (Someone once said that the whole state's a small town.)

They do and have done everything: parenting, painting, poetry-writing, proof-reading, engineering, musicologizing, theologizing. And I'm not even started!

This afternoon a group of third-graders is outside, taking leaves and picking up fallen branches.

Last night Mike was here paying bills, and Anne and Stefanie were running the circulation desk. They were chatting with Sandi about the Mother's Day plant sale, which they will run under the auspices of the Friends organization. (More about that group soon.)

They're all amazing people with the energy of community. We're incredibly lucky.

Thanks, volunteers.

NPL Volunteer Writes from along the Trail

Some of the most interesting people I've ever met are NPL volunteers. I"ve met grandmothers, techies, lawyers, doctors, theologians, and veterans, just to name a few. They are truly an outstanding group.

We just received a card from Linda Pierce, book wrapper extraordinaire. Linda was writing from Indian Creek Falls (pictured here) in the Great Smoky Mountains. Linda, a nurse at DHMC, has zoomed in regularly to wrap our books in the protective wrappings that help them to survive being loved by many different readers.

I say has zoomed in because we are Linda-less for the next six months, while Linda hikes the 2173-mile Appalachian Trail, all on her own. Linda is a hardy lass, aglow with fitness and good health, and I have no doubt that she will be successful in her quest. I have fretted about the isolation and safety aspects of the journey, but after the video I just borrowed from NPL's collection, I feel a little better.

The DVD is Walking in Freedom, and it's a film made by a hiker who made the journey. I was glad to see that hikers may set out alone, but in the process of taking on this challenge, they quickly bond with others who may be just the helping hand they will need in a tough spot.

There are people in towns along the trail who welcome hikers to rest a bit, to take the half-gallon challenge (eat a half-gallon of ice cream in a sitting), or to consume platter-sized pancakes, since calories are no object. Hiker-friendly boarding houses and camp shelters bring people together, too.

No one can fail to recognize the daunting challenge that hikers face, but it's good to know that there will be some supportive souls along the way. Check out the DVD and take a peek at Linda's journey.

Poets Circle to Meet Again April 15

The Poets' Circle, an ongoing group for writers of poetry, will meet again on April 15, from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Community Room.

Anne Shivas, coordinator of the group, spearheaded its creation in order to create a community of poets in the Upper Valley.

Activities of the group vary from meeting to meeting. They all brought love poems to share during the February meeting.

During the April meeting members will bring a favorite poem by a published poet for discussion.

A Worthy Tradition: Poetry Night is April 20

Here we go again! Join us Friday, April 20, for the merriment that brings together two of life's finest offerings: poetry and dessert, for the Poetry Potluck. We'll start reading and munching at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Room.

This event is open to everyone: grandparents, grandkids, and everyone in between. Bring a dessert to share, and a favorite poem--yours, if you write them; someone else's if you are a reader-enthusiast.

This is our second annual event, one that we hope to turn into a cherished tradition. Last year over 30 poetry lovers of all ages joined us to celebrate the music of the spoken word.

NPL, hoping to provide local poets with a gathering place, also hosts the Poetry Round Table one Sunday a month. In that group, poets bring their work to share in a supportive group environment. More about that group in an upcoming blog.