Library 28: The Worthen Library (South Hero)
Macrame is cool and youthful.
Library 28! The Worthen Library in South Hero in the Lake Champlain islands was the 28th stop on my quest to read, write, and knit in as many of Vermont’s public libraries as I can during my sabbatical.
I read: “Young LGBTQ Teachers” by T. Ferfolja
I wrote: notes on how LGBTQ+ teachers in Australia position their identities at work
I knit: an emotional support chicken by The Knitting Tree L.A.
This is the newest library I’ve ever been in! Built in 2019. The librarians on duty tole me the only newer library in Vermont is in South Burlington, which I have yet to visit. This library has visible classics on display, but with a twist. For example, it has a fireplace. Most libraries I visit in Vermont have a fireplace (sometimes two). At the Worthen, instead of a painting of the donor hanging above the fireplace, there is macrame. I can’t explain why, but the macrame produced a youthful vibe. My wife won’t let us have macrame in the house because to her, it feels old. She says that macrame plant hangers and macrame art would make our house look like someone’s aunt decorated it. This library is proof that macrame is cool. And also aunts. Aunts are cool.
Also full disclosure: someone’s aunt did in fact decorate our house. It was me. But in a marital negotiation, I left out the macrame.
This library also has hip ways of honoring its donors. Instead of a painting of the donor hanging above the library, the donor who made the library possible is remembered in the form of a bobble head wearing a knit argyle sweater and a cat pin, which was almost as awesome as the cat sweater the librarian Keagan was wearing.
I have never written a more awesome sentence than that.
This library also has a wool wall hanging of the Champlain Islands that helped us identify our location on a piece of fiber art made by a local rug hooker. To get to this library, Lauren and I drove over a long causeway/bridge through Lake Champlain on a windy clear sunny day. Arriving on the other side of the lake made me feel: “I am in a unique place.” To clarify: every place in Vermont is unique. But the Islands have a vibe that is unlike other places in Vermont. It says “beach” and “slow down” and “read a book outdoors” and “take a walk,” even in the winter months.
I added this library’s weekly knitting hour to the spreadsheet: Wednesdays at 11am. Our count of libraries with knitting events is close to 50.
Something I hadn’t seen prior to visiting this library is backpacks one can check out with specialized items in them. One was stuffed with items for building things. Another was full of items for learning the ABCs. If there had been a knitting backpack, I might have considered getting a library card and moving here.
My funny and kind friend Lauren drove me to this library to help save my back from driving (thank you, Lauren!). She works in development, and noticed the creative ways the library honored its donors, like the bricks that line the sidewalk outside. The bricks tell tiny stories of people who love the library. Families and visitors and readers.
My favorite: “When in doubt, go to the library.”
