The Suffield Observer (https://thesuffieldobserver.com/category/library/directors-corner/page/4/)
Since we closed our physical building in response to COVID-19, staff at the Kent Memorial Library has grappled with working remotely from home, attending webinars and Zoom meetings, expanding networks and becoming part of a broader conversation of what libraries can do during a global pandemic.
What an incredible time to step into the role as Library Director! As we are all hunkered down in our homes, I can’t help but reflect on what this last month has been like for the entire staff at the Kent Memorial Library, and what it means for our community.
When I tell people that I grew up in the Bahamas, I’m often asked “What are you doing up here?” Naturally, this conjures images of sunny beaches and blue waters.
One of the many special occasions noted during the month of March is National Read and E-Book Week, celebrated this year from March 1-7. The event was started in 2004 by an author named Rita Toews.
Hello old friends and welcome to my new acquaintances! Some of you may remember me from three or more decades ago when I was employed at the Kent Memorial Library.
The holidays are upon us and with it the promise of gifts. Lewis Hyde in his book The Gift, first published in 1983, and never out of print, offers a thoughtful exploration on gifts.
The title of this column comes from Diana Athill’s book, a memoir she wrote at 89. She wrote with wry humor of her life and what it is like to grow old and face death.
During Banned Books Week which occurs in September since 1982, librarians routinely prepare a list of books whose contents are considered by some to be so controversial that the books are banned from libraries, schools, communities, and even countries. It is scary when books, the repository of much of our knowledge and deemed by most to be fun, educational or classics, are deemed subversive and contaminating.
Dictionaries have been around a long time, perhaps beginning on cuneiform tablets around 2300 BCE (or BC if you prefer) in the area of modern-day Syria. In 1604, the first English alphabetical dictionary was published.
The Kent Memorial Library is unique. It is the only free-standing public building designed by Warren Platner.