Library 8: Stowe Free Library

The historical friend zone.

Library 8! The Stowe Free Library was the 8th stop on my journey to read, write, and knit in all of Vermont’s public libraries during my sabbatical.

• I read: Writing your Journal Article in 12 weeks, an article from the *new* Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education, an article from the journal Social Movement Studies, and an article about the complexities of positionality statements (thank you Lee!)

• I wrote: draft positionality statements for two manuscripts

• I knit: a chunky 1x1 ribbed beanie

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I visited this library on January 30, 2024.

The Stowe Free Library is in my neighboring town, so I drove only 15 minutes to get here. When I tell people where I live in Vermont, I usually have to say “Morrisville (near Stowe)” so they know where Morrisville is. Stowe and Morrisville have a relationship I’ve been trying to understand since I arrived in Vermont. Stowe has wealth, tourists, a ski industry, speciality retail shops, hotels, boutiques, sidewalks, multiple art galleries, a Starbucks, restaurants, a book store, homes, and out of state license plates. Morrisville has three hardware stores, four grocery stores, apartment buildings, an affordable housing complex, two dollar stores, a movie theater, two drug stores, a Dunkin’ Donuts, a McDonald’s, a Marshall’s, a food co-op, in-state license plates, and five cannabis shops. They both have a doctor’s office, multiple breweries, a movie theater, a pizza shop, a Black Cap Coffee & Beer, and a great library. They share an airport, a county, and a school district. Neither have a yarn store. The place we buy dog food in Morrisville is called “Guy’s Farm & Yard” and the place you buy dog food in Stowe is called “The Dog & Cat.”

This visit was a twofer, because the Stowe Free Library shares a building with The Current (formerly known as the Helen Day Art Center). The Current is a rad contemporary art gallery that is currently hosting works by some rad artists, including Ebony G Patterson. There was also art on display from local artist and Johnson alum Harlan Mack, and an interesting display on maker tools. Go between now and April 11 2024! It will not disappoint.

This building used to be a school. Like many Vermont buildings, the creaks in the wooden floor say “this building has secrets.” It was build in 1861 as the “District #6 Village School” and remained a school until 1973, according to a plaque posted on the front porch. That means children attended this school for the first time in the first year of the American civil war. I wonder what the curriculum was at that time. I wonder how the teachers talked about the war, slavery that existed in Vermont, Indigenous culture, the fight to end slavery, the fight for civil rights.

Civil rights. Why must it always take a fight?

After I visited the gallery upstairs, I went into the actual library and met the director Loren, WHO IS A REAL KNITTER. I wanted to talk with Loren about raglan sweater patterns for 45 minutes, but I did actually have to do some work. Before getting to work, Loren told me two important things: 1) this library has fiber arts group that meets on Thursdays from 2-5, and 2) the juiciest part of this library’s history is that it was founded by two gals who were described as “good friends” in the historical record. Their names were Helen Day and Dr. Margeurite Lichtenhaeler.

Look at this picture of my friend Doc L and tell me that Helen Day was her good friend.

Helen: I’m sorry the narrative put you in the friend zone.

After Loren’s tour, I sat in the reading room for a while and worked on my research paper. It was quiet. I recognized a few faces coming in and out of the room, which has an impressive collection of periodicals and newspapers on display. I thought about the fight for civil rights. And recognizing bias. And positionality. And subjectivity. And critical reflexivity. And the civil war. And what it means to be an LGBTQ+ educator in 2024. When that filled me with the appropriate level of anxiety and rage, I found a side room and sat and knit stitch after stitch after stitch until I felt better again.