The Week in Library Land: November 17 to November 23
Was it quiet week? Yes, but there was one absolutely amazing highlight.
The first of the week was the Medway Public Library, as I continue trying to get my head around the fact that I’ll be moving to the town in less than two weeks. This was an afternoon visit and there were a fair number of school-age kids using the library. Were they a little loud? Sure, but that’s okay. Better to have kids being loud and enjoying the library than there be no kids using them at all … and truth be told, they weren’t that loud. Library Land Score: 4.18.
The beautiful 1903 section of the Rockland Memorial Library.
I’m not sure what led us to the South Shore, but on Thursday we decided to visit two libraries in the area. The first was the Rockland Memorial Library. This is a “two era” library. The original section is from 1903 and was built as a memorial to the town's "unreturned" from the Civil War. There are two rooms off a high and lovely rotunda, but neither really reflect the building's period.
In the early 1990s, the building was expanded. It’s a good example of the unimaginative architecture of the period. Library Land Score: 3.91.
Upon leaving Rockland we headed northeast to the Hingham Public Library. What an absolutely amazing place! The library was built in 1966 (the same year as me!) and originally served as both the library and the town hall. That changed with a renovation in the early 2000s.
So what makes this particular library “absolutely amazing?” Well, that would be its collection - its HUGE collection - of almost 180,000 items! Hingham is a nice town, but it’s not some big city (the population is under 25,000) so why the big collection? Foresight, for one. The director back in ‘66 was an early advocate for putting a broad range of non-book items into circulation.
Just a tiny example of the volume of media and “things” available in Hingham.
This library has been doing the Library of Things since 1966, for crying out loud!
Having an early visionary is all well and good, but maintaining and expanding a collection like this is a never ending task. Fortunately, the Hingham Public Library has Peter Thornell, an absolutely amazing Collections Development Librarian. We spent some time talking about his philosophy.
He’s a big advocate on maintaining as broad and diverse a set of resources as possible. In practice this means the library has an enormous collection of CDs and DVDs. It means the library has a large collection of art that can be borrowed. It means technology - including laptops and tablets - that can be checked out. It’s pretty amazing.
Why not spruce up your space with some borrow art? Hingham has it!
But addition is only one half of the equation. Weeding is the other and Peter isn’t hesitant to pull items that have outlived their literal shelf life. Outdated histories, deservedly forgotten fiction, irrelevant reference materials - all are liable to be removed (or moved) to make way for more and better items.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Hingham is a net lender when it comes to Inter Library Lending. Aside from it collection, the library has quite a few study rooms, a nice local history room, plenty of space for programs, and even a little cafe where patrons and snack and chat. It really is the full package. Library Land Score: 4.73.
The last visit of the week was a few hours of quiet writing time at the Morse Institute in Natick. It’s been my library for so many years - and although I travel far and wide to visit libraries - I will certainly miss it when I move. It’s a wonderful place. Library Land Score: 4.45.
Another week gone by but another one always ready to start. Funny how that works!