Last Friday a vibrant scene unfolded at the Town Hall as young children and their families gathered to welcome GMVS 7th graders graciously donating toys and furniture they had constructed during their STEM unit. The children dove right into building on both the train and light tables, concocting yummy imaginary snacks in the play kitchen, making valentines while sitting at a table and chairs sized just for them and taking turns getting rides from the big kids in the model Tesla. Parents were able to chat and connect with each other when they weren’t joining in the play, and GMVS students had the chance to see their hard work pay off as little ones buzzed around them engaged and happy.

Events such as this help meet one of the biggest goals identified by the community during our recent surveys of having ways to connect and collaborate across different groups and ages and stages. Being at the Town Hall fulfilled another goal of people wanting access to a comfortable space to gather informally. The program also introduced new people to our village center touching on the third important goal identified of building resilience and a thriving community that is happy, healthy and economically satisfied. We look forward to many more weeks of Read & Play for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers happening Fridays at the Town Hall at 10:30am.

We are also grateful to the community members who attended the recent design nights and helped think through how the library could meet some of these community goals in the Town Hall space. Many great ideas were generated for being an information hub and creating cozy spaces while preserving event capabilities, and we look forward to sharing some of them during our presentation at pre-town and Town Meeting in just a few weeks. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out and share any other feedback or questions you might have about the library moving to the Town Hall.

As part of the MRV libraries, we are excited to host a new book discussion series from the Vermont Humanities Council. Entitled  “A Hard Look at America”, it features pulitzer-prize writing including: Summer For the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing  by Edward J. Larson,  All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer and Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink. The series kicks off at the Warren Library on Thursday, February 21st at 6:30 pm with a facilitated discussion of Larsen’s book. Stop in to check out a copy or grab a flyer for more information. Later on in March we welcome children’s author Daphne Kalmar for a talk on her book “A Stitch in Time”, and kick-off a series on Mindful Aging with Bobbi Rood.

In the spirit of mindful aging, we recently added Mary Phipher’s new book “ Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as we Age” to our collection. For younger audiences or those young at heart we have “The Beastie Boys Book” available. Written by surviving band members Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), this tome is both an eclectic look at the seminal group from the inside as well as a tribute to bandmate Adam Yauch (MCA). We hope to see you at the library soon!