Library 153: Morrill Memorial and Harris Library (Strafford)
Does Noah Kahan have a library card?
Library 153! The Morrill Memorial and Harris Library in Strafford was the 153rd stop on my quest to read and knit in every public library in Vermont.
I read: chapter one of “The Secret Library” by Kekla Magoon
I knit: a cardigan for my mom
When we came into this library, director Melissa was talking with an adult patron whom she vaguely recognized. Trying to find a connection, they discovered he had been an avid reader as a kid in a library where she previously worked. This seemed quite meaningful to her. She told the story to a patron who replied “Wow! Look at him now. He can read and everything.”
Another patron, Kaitlin, is helping run the book sale on the front lawn. Kaitlin told us the story of how she got engaged in a library in New Hampshire. Her then boyfriend asked the librarian for the key after hours to pop the question. Their kids are now active readers. I love a family story that features a library on every page.
I regret my visit did not coincide with the library’s knitting club, which has named itself the Fiber Arts Group (my guess is they do not use the acronym). I was also happy to find two knitting books on display. Melissa told me about a pattern everyone was knitting in the 80s— the “Candide sweater,” aka the Portuguese Fisherman’s Pullover. Still available on Ravelry.
The decor here features works by artist Constatino Brumidi, an Italian artist who painted quite a few pieces in the White House. Justin Morrill was a Vermont senator who did a lot of important stuff as senators do, and therefore earned a Brumidi portrait. Some of the important stuff he did was advocate for the 14th amendment and pass a land grant act that established public universities. He is buried in Strafford, near his very pink historic home.
Melissa recommended we see the impressive Strafford meeting house on our way out, and also told us Strafford is proud to be Noah Kahan’s hometown. Without thinking, I asked “Does he have a library card!?” And of course, Melissa, well-versed in the duties of a librarian, said something like “I certainly can’t tell you that!”
Librarians! Taking our privacy seriously since the invention of libraries.
