In today's episode, I talk with Mark Richardson, Library Director at the Weathersfield Proctor Library in Ascutney, Vermont. This library is one of three "sister" libraries in Windsor County, Vermont (along with the Windsor Public Library and the Mary L Blood Library in West Windsor) funded by the same benefactor, Benjamin Blood, in the early 20th century.
**SPECIAL NOTE: Mark and I lost our connection for a few seconds, so you will hear a short pause, then we're back.**
Mark shared a bit about that history and then shared all the exciting things happening at the library, including a Seed Library open to everyone, professional quality telescopes, and a soon-to-be observatory in Perkinsville, VT. Mark also shared information about the extensive "Library of America" collection that WPL owns, which is available through interlibrary loan. The Weathersfield Proctor Library has been known as a stopping place for local genealogists and had an extensive onsite database of local records. These records have now been uploaded to the Family Search website and can be accessed online for free.
We wrapped up as always with some book recommendations. Mark shared a children's book about The Lost Words (2018) by Robert McFarlane and illustrated by Jackie Morris. These lost words were discovered among the words removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary in 2007. They were removed because it was said children aren't using them anymore. All of the words had to do with nature. And all the words that replaced these words have to do with technology. McFarlane (who also wrote The Wild Places and The Old Ways among other books) and Morris decided to create a "spell book" that would conjure some of these words back into the language of children. In words and images they created a beautiful book that is being shared far and wide. This one comes highly recommended by Mark for children and adults.
Mark is also reading a couple of books from the Library of America collection titled, The Future is Female: 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women From Pulp Pioneers to Ursula LeGuin(2018) and The Future is Female Volume Two The 1970s: More Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women (2022). These volumes contain short stories that would be fairly difficult to find one at a time. The folks at Library of America do a tremendous job of compiling short story collections. Ask your librarian or bookseller about these wonderful books which I think are often not widely read. From what Mark told me, his library has a huge collection of these books and they all can be had through interlibrary loan.
I talked about a funny, satirical novel about book bans (yes, it really is funny) from author Kirsten Miller. Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books is a great end of summer read. It's fast and fun and takes place in a small southern community where everyone has known everyone forever. Lula Dean has carried a long time grudge against Beverly Underwood and feels she is invisible in town and longs to be "important." She finds a way when she hears about book bans happening in other communities and decides to do some book banning of her own, starting with the town library. Lula feels very powerful with all the attention she is getting and created a little library on her front lawn and places all the books she believes are "proper" reading in it. She encourages members of the community to visit her little library. What Lula doesn't realize is that someone has taken all the jackets off her books and put them on replacement books (the same books Lula is trying to have banned).
My second book was candy for me, and will be for anyone interested in American popular culture. It's a history of reality tv, from it's beginnings in radio, up to and including shows like, Survivor, The Bachelor, and The Apprentice. In Cue the Sun, The Invention of Reality TV (2024), Emily Nussbaum, award winning TV critic, includes some dishy behind the scenes looks at shows I grew up with (Candid Camera, the groundbreaking An American Family, and The Gong Show), and more importantly, charts the history of this genre using the voices of the people who created it. I'm hoping for a second book where she offers more of the "why" people can't get enough of these shows where the reality of reality tv is a lot more contrived and fake than many realize.
Thanks for listening to the podcast and reading this blog! Please visit us at Facebook for more Vermont public library tidbits. If you would like your Vermont library to be featured on an episode of WTBAnow, please use the contact information on the website or send a Facebook message.
**All of the books mentioned on WTBAnow are available at your public library or through interlibrary loan. The book covers you see on this page are linked to Bookshop.org a great place to purchase books and support your local independent bookstore at the same time.**
Until next time...Happy Reading,
Nancy
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