I’m wrapping up the 2024 Inn Mates library tour before the snow starts flying here in Maine. It’s been a privilege to be an invited speaker at libraries from the northern stretches of Bar Harbor and Ellsworth, further south to the quaint towns of Gardiner and Gray, to historic Yarmouth, Cumberland, and the beautiful seaside towns of Ogunquit and York.
The library patrons, librarians and staff I’ve met enjoy a good story, and truly love reading and books. All kinds of books; fiction, nonfiction, crime and cozy mysteries, robustly researched works of scholarship, and humor.
Public libraries are the locus for like-minded people engaged in a quiet pursuit. Reading the lines of their chosen book, and sometimes reading between the lines to gain insights which may be hidden on the page at first glance.
Libraries also serve a vital role in our communities, offering dynamic programs for book groups, artists, musicians, bakers and craft makers. I recently read that libraries in the United States are visited over 1 billion times a year!
And while most folks are looking to borrow a book at the circulation desk, many others pop in to read magazines and newspapers, filling a gap in public life. In many ways, libraries have become the new town square. A place to build community, where people interact face to face, rather than virtually through apps and devices. Libraries are places where our analog attention span can shake hands with the digital age – perhaps offering us the best of both worlds.
My planning for library events in 2025 will begin after the holidays…until then support your local library!