It is National Library Lover’s Month and Massachusetts libraries are celebrating. Send a love letter to your library at Empowered by Libraries. There are so many reasons to love Meekins, your community library. The Meekins librarians are always there to help you find anything almost anywhere from your favorite poem to the best sources to plan that bucket-list trip you want to take. And all those books, books, and more books—picture books for your children and “grands”; classic stories and graphic novels for students and teens; “how to” books on everything from making soup, to building a shed, to keeping chickens; and those addicting mystery series just for you.
Then there is the whole wall of gripping audio books that make your commute less onerous; and the DVD movies and TV series to escape into on a cold winter night. There are magazines for all sorts of interests from cooking to crafting to fashion to current events. Borrow a museum pass and experience local culture. Seasonally, tax booklets arrive for the taking. For art and craft lovers, the Neil Hammer Gallery showcases the work of local and regional artists with openings that offer the chance to get to know your talented neighbors. The book club brings people together to perhaps read something you would never have picked up—and talk about those books. And for more than 15 years, the holiday reading brings folks into Meekins for a cozy and festive group read. Programs for children and young adults abound—there is chess and dungeons and dragons and Legos, and just recently marathon Valentine making. If you must just run in, Take & Make craft bags are ready to go. And don’t forget the monthly scavenger hunts, spooky Halloweens, special holiday celebrations, decades of Summer Reading programs for readers of all ages or the winter Meekins Market.
The small and focused Local History collection offers resources inside Meekins and online, to help trace your family or just explore the story of the town. Musical events, poetry readings, book talks, knitting and needlework, movies and more happen throughout the year. Tuesday Tech Help is a regular offering and librarians will always answer your odd library technology question. Not a week goes by without something on offer at the Meekins. A special talk on the May 16th 150th anniversary of the 1874 Mill River Flood, a mending workshop, a pastel workshop, memoir writing, puppets, a ChatGPT program, music programs and more are all coming up.
The Meekins collects food for the local Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors pantry, has collected and shared warm clothing with the community for years and years, offers the Hawks~Hayden Room to community groups for meetings and events and welcomes anyone to come in from the cold or the heat to enjoy the nooks and crannies of the beautiful building. The lovely grounds, gardens and patio offer a welcome oasis in all seasons. The Meekins website is a gateway to virtual Library visits—and the way to get to Libby for e-books, Kanopy for online movies, Hoopla for e-books, magazines, movies and more, and now Creative Bug—to instruct and inspire your own creations. From the website you can link to Local History and lots of reference resources, get to your online library account and order materials, keep up with library events and send notes to the library at any time.
Come into the historic building and relax with a book or magazine in a cozy chair in the John and Alta Black Reading Room—sit in the sunny windows in the winter and enjoy the cool in the summer. Chat with your friends and neighbors. Read to your grandchild in the Picture Book Room. At home, visit the Meekins website, read an e-book on Libby, watch a favorite movie on Kanopy, listen to a book on Hoopla—all brought to you by Meekins, your community library. There are so many reasons to love this local library. Tell us what you love.
As for the Meekins, it is our patrons near and far that are at the heart of our library. Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist and photographer. #throwbackthursday; #tbt.
Posted to Facebook 2/15/2024
