Thanks, Kids. Thanks, Doyles.

Like about any modest public institution, NPL has faced its share of economic shortfalls this year. Donations to the annual fund are down. The state library has discontinued some of its services --that sort of thing.

Enter the Doyles. Jeff and Maureen and kids Clio, Finley, and Zola were discussing what might be done to help out NPL, and the By Kids For Kids Yard Sale was born.

The idea was simple and elegant at the same time: kids could gather together the books, toys, and gear that they no longer needed and offer it up for sale on the library lawn. They pre-priced it and brought it down, to sell and split the profits with NPL.

As these pictures attest, (thanks, Peter Money!) the event was as photogenic as it was profitable. Behold--the next generation of entrepreneurs!

Best of all, we on the staff were energized and downright moved by the thoughtful actions of the community, starting with the Doyles. They made us feel so appreciated.

The entire event reminded me of a Ramblin' Jack Elliott concert I attended long ago. The audience was yelling out requests of their favorite songs. "Don't Think Twice!" hollered a fan. Ramblin' Jack obliged.

"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out!" somebody called, when that song was done.

Ramblin' Jack fixed him with A Look.

"Oh yes they do," he said.

A Local Delicacy

I've expressed my enthusiasm for The American Scholar, the magazine of Phi Beta Kappa, in these posts before. If you haven't taken a look at this lively magazine, here's a local pretext for doing so now.

Norwich's own Rob Gurwitt has published a delightful and well written piece on his Sunday pizza gatherings at the town oven. It's fun to read about the history of that oven, to read mentions of Suzanne Lupien and his own desire to use pizza making as a means for gathering community together.

You'll find Rob's article is in the latest issue of American Scholar. Also in the issue are new poems by Gary Snyder, a reassessment of the Reagan presidency, a fable by Thornton Wilder, and a piece on why your waitress might be smarter than you are. Stimulating reading!

I hadn't known about Rob's pizza gatherings before reading his article. I find myself wanting to learn more about his pizza aesthetic, having sampled his wonderful writing.

There Is Life after 500,000

I don't think that the Hooper-Goetincks walked in expecting to make a little NPL history, but when they approached the circulation desk, they must have realized that something was up.

There was Board President Barry Rotman, watching intently. Lisa Milchman was checking out a stack of materials excitedly. What was the deal? Mom Carolyn's raised eyebrows seemed to ask as staff members gathered round.

Lisa flipped a computer window and stood back. There, in the statistical window of the circulation program stood the number, round and firm: 500,000!

She shared the news with Carolyn (right), Dylan (center), and Blake (left). Then came the prizes: a gift certificate to the Norwich Book Store, a bar of Champlain chocolate, a wooden nickel for dismissing a fine, served up in a bright blue NPL bag with a balloon bouquet attached. We all applauded.

Library confidentiality policies prohibit me from revealing the title of the point-tipping check-out. The Goetincks are prolific patrons, anyway. It almost doesn't matter what the title was, or which of their many actually pushed us over the finish line. They're mad readers, all of them.

After the glow of the moment passed and the Hooper-Goetincks continued on their errands, we savored the spike of energy, then felt it drop a little. Now what? some part of me asked. It wasn't even lunchtime yet. Talk about an anticlimax!

The feeling moved on. My desk was covered with a teetering tower of new books and a few DVDs. They needed entering into the state system and labels applied. I flipped through Don Metz's New Compact House Designs and resolved to check out "Frost/Nixon" when it comes out of cataloging. Ditto with reading The Artist's Way, and this weekend I'll find a new block pattern in Quick Quilts from the Heart. YES!

500,000 is a number, and like other steps in a sequence, it's quickly bested by succeeding ones. Still, it tells us that we're being used, that we have a role to play in this community, and it's a role we rejoice in playing.

What Does Half a Million Look Like?

Some time in the next week, NPL will have its 500,000th checkout. There's a statistic that fairly begs for visualization. Whee!

We measured the spine of a "typical" book, stacked it and its fellows by a cool 500 thou, and spun it into the mathematical, the theoretical. Where would you be if you were to climb such a stack of books?

We suddenly found ourselves eleven miles up, teetering into the stratosphere. I immediately requested dramamine for the dizziness that enveloped me.

However, I regained my composure before it arrived. In libraries, ultimately the theoretical must yield to the concrete: to children emerging from story time with a stack of books on today's theme; to the commuter who needs a good story to stay alert on the road. There are the live wires who come in after the latest title they've heard about on "Fresh Air," or the reading club member asking to be placed on the list for the book of the moment. Add to these the mom or dad who need a Harry Potter DVD to get the kids through a rainy Saturday, the Consumer Reports reader on the verge of a major purchase, the gardener in need of a landscape plan, the cook in search of a recipe, and from there, the sky's the limit. Such are the instances that have brought us to this point, each of them lovely in their way.

We're wondering who will check out our 500,000th item. This milestone will probably occur in the next week. Attainment of the magic number will be lucky for the patron who hits it: a gift certificate at the Norwich Book Store and delicious candy from Champlain Chocolates. What's not to like?

The suspense is sweet! (Pun intentional.)

Celebrating a Creative Community

In your Sunday perambulations, be sure to drop by NPL to see a display of books by some very special young authors and their families.

Thanks to a grant written by Children's Librarian Beth Reynolds and provided by the Winnie Belle Learned Fund, 35 area families worked with illustrator Matt Phelan to create books based on memories, journeys, and imaginings, and they'll be on exhibit Sunday afternoon, April 5, from 3 to 5 p.m.

"The point of this activity was to get kids to visualize as they read," says Beth.


Deadlines being what they are, 15 of the books have made it back to the library for the showing. Beth hopes that a few more trickle in before showtime.

Matt Phelan was wonderful to work with, says Beth. "He talked to the children rather than down to them."

Not only did Phelan share his sketchbooks with his students and their families: he also gave a presentation to 40-some middle school students on illustration as a career.

Also on display Sunday are shawls knitted by another library group, Shawl We Knit (you may groan here).

As public buildings work to reduce the consumption of heating oil, NPL staff have decided to offer cozy shawls to be worn by library patrons as they peruse their favorite tomes. They'll be available for check-out in future chilly months. A group of community-spirited NPL patrons and staff have gotten together for knitting and conversation to meet this need.

So drop by for a sip of apple juice from a "champagne fountain" (the irrepressible Lisa Cadow's catering touch) and other goodies and celebrate the efforts of these creative and community minded folk.

Audio Update: Listen Up, Vermont!

I'm always running behind the times,
Just like this train...
Shaking into town with the brakes complaining...
--Joni Mitchell

There's hardly any technology that's out there and in full bloom that I'm not the last to acquire. When vinyl was replaced by cassettes, and cassettes by CDs, I was literally the last on my block. Now I've latched onto an MP3 player, aware that the rest of the world revels in iPods.

You can bury me with a Blackberry. It'll be the only contact I have with one, and by then they'll be obsolete.

But I digress. However outmoded the MP3 player may be, I'm having a great time using it to download books through Listen Up, Vermont!, the consortium of Vermont libraries that has led the way in providing downloadable audiobooks state-wide.

What fun it is to go to the web site, queue up for books, then download them to my computer and then transfer them to my little 8-gigabyte MP3 player. The entire experience has me feeling almost contemporary. You can also burn the books to CDs or listen from your computer.

I love the selection. I've listened to a ridiculous range of materials: Milton's Paradise Lost, Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch mysteries, the new biography of Andrew Jackson, the autobiography of Helen Keller, and Whitman's Leaves of Grass. They play as smoothly (as Linda Richman would have it) like buttah... no cracks or skips or digital woozies. And the collection continues to grow.

I have DSL at home, so downloading is quick and easy. If you who live in the glorious countryside have a slower dial-up capability, come into the library, as some of our patrons are doing, and download books here. Bring your iPod or MP3 player, and we'll help you get started.

Use this link to check out the growing selection, then dust off your library card and join me in taking advantage of one of NPL's hottest new deals.

If You Don't Have Time to Build a Tower...

Too many books? Too little time?

If your schedule doesn't permit the construction of an imposing tower or cozy cabin out of all your excess books, you may want to give them to NPL's Friends of the Library instead.

Their next book sale will be held on March 27-28, and they're looking for donations.

If you have books to donate, bring them into NPL during our normal business hours.

If their bulk and number threaten to overtake you, give us a call. There are members of the Friends who will come over to pick them up.

Please don't include textbooks, Reader's Digest condensed books, or books with mold or mildew in your donations. They just don't sell.

The Friends are hard at work, helping to raise funds to keep NPL alive and thriving during some very challenging times.

They're the best of Friends!