Library 39: Carpenter-Carse Library (Hinesburg)

Don't go into the library.

Mar 27, 2024

Library 39! The Carpenter-Carse Library in Hinesburg was the 39th 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: Ned the Knitting Pirate by Diana Murray about pirates who knit a new sail for their ship after reluctantly learning the craft.
I wrote: a body paragraph for a research paper
I knit: a cinque terre shawl by the Plucky Knitter

I visited this library on March 27, 2024.

I arrived at this library right after school ended, and there was a Pokémon club meeting in the community room. Based on the sounds coming out of that room, I cannot imagine that anything more awesome was happening in Hinesburg at 3pm today.

Director Rob told me that this hardware-store-turned-library is the only incorporated library in Chittenden County. I first learned about the difference between a municipal library and an incorporated library on this Brave Little State episode. Rob shared an example of how this distinction impacts the work of a library director: when it snows on a municipal library, the plow shows up. When it snows on an incorporated library, Rob calls the plow guy and then Rob pays the bill. Different paperwork. Different budget. Different labor.

At this library you can check out a learn-to-knit kit! Amazing. Also amazing: A mural on the wall displays a person reading in a tree, and on the branch next to them is both an emotional support chicken and also an emotional support pig. This means that Hen Solo was not the only emotional support chicken in the library today. They were glad to have a friend. In case this is interesting to any reader, there are approximately 600 patterns available on Ravelry for emotional support pigs.

Also overheard today, from a librarian at the front desk to a Pokémon fan: “That’s not how we behave in a library.” There are some norms we agree to when we go to a library. One way to figure out what those norms are is to start a wrestling match next to the librarian’s desk when you’re five years old. Libraries are for learning.

On the bathroom wall, I read the poem “Don’t Go into the library” by Alberto Ríos. It ends like this (I also recommend the beginning):