Library 149: Orwell Free Library
It was a wet hot day in June, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
Library 149! The Orwell Free Library is the 149th stop on my quest to read, write, and knit in every public library in Vermont.
I read: 1984 by George Orwell and Averil Offline by Amy Noelle Parks
I wrote: email
I knit: a cardigan for my mom
I was happy to be in Orwell the same day season four of The Bear was released. I learned of the town of Orwell’s famous “dystopian butter” by watching the TV show, not from living in Vermont. Thank you, Uncle Jimmy.
I told the librarian I wanted to read a George Orwell book while I was there, and made a joke about finding it in the non-fiction section. I feared she had heard that joke 47371 times since 2016, and yet I couldn’t help myself.
This library has a bangin’ staircase with a stuffed snowy owl set in the wall of the stairway. Other displayed taxidermy includes a bufflehead in the central room and a fisher in a reading room with excellent wallpaper. Choice taxidermy, Orwell!
There is an awesome cow in the bathroom. Worth the visit.
The librarian gave me a tour amidst lots of traffic— summer reading agendas are officially underway. We went upstairs to the historical society collection briefly where I took a selfie with an expressive telephone. Sadly, the two-seater toilet was behind a locked door and I regret I did not get a photo.
I read the first chapter of some of the Golden Dome Award nominees which were in a special display. The most Orwellian of the collection was Averil Offline, about a kid who runs away to escape a parental surveillance app, and an adventure that unfolds in their newfound free world.
Down with big brother.
Down with big brother.
Down with big brother.
The appeal of summer fiction is tangible right now. I am seeking ways to let my nervous system recover from the news so that it can be ready to process more bad news. I read and write and call and protest, and then experience small hangovers, anxious about being punished for making unpatriotic thoughtcrimes visible to the world. I’m going to standby the joke about Orwell being moved to non-fiction.
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
The walls of this library were lined with art. My favorites: a needle-felted lamb and a wooly homage to a recently closed family shop named Buxton’s. I hear it is dearly missed.
RIP Buxtons. Let’s hope Democracy does not follow.
I will be sad when you are done with this project.
I love the picture with you and the phone — I feel like the fireplace/stove in the next picture has the same face.