In Episode 11, I talked with Brenda Stanley, the Library Director at the Enosburgh Public Library, just northeast of St Albans, VT in the state's northwestern corner. According to Brenda, the Enosburgh Public Library was formed at the turn of the 20th century in 1897 and housed in several locations. The current library building was constructed in 1984 and was purposely made to look like an older building to fit in with the look of other town buildings.
The Enosburgh Public Library is a busy place! The library has received several grants that have made many new programs possible. Once a week there is an all-day senior lounge and there are often intergenerational programs at the library. One of the grants has allowed Brenda to put together learning backpacks with themes such as forensics, coding, and electronics. They are so popular, as soon as they are returned, they are checked out again.
Along with other adult programs, Enosburgh also has "New Book Fridays" and every Friday morning the new adult books are put out. Library patrons know this and sometimes line up at the door to be the first to get their hands on that new book. I love this idea!
When we shared book recommendations, Brenda and I talked about local authors and "hidden histories." She highly recommends a new book by local author and Vermont history teacher, Jason Barney titled, Hidden History of Lake Champlain. Also the 2016 history book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly.
I shared a non-fiction selection about the women who worked in the radium dial factories between 1910 and the late 1920s called, The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore (2017) and The Liar's Dictionary, a novel by Ely Williams about words hidden in plain sight called Mountweazels. If you like that one, you'll love her book of short stories, Attrib. and Other Stories (2017). This author loves words and loves playing with words.
The links on the book covers will bring you to Bookshop.org a great alternative place to purchase books online while also supporting the independent bookstore of your choice. Win, Win! I encourage everyone to get books from their local library and/or through interlibrary loan. But when buying a gift, or for those books you just have to own, Bookshop.org is terrific. (If you use the links at the right it does help support productions costs of this podcast too :)
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