On this 2023 winter solstice, and as we look to 2024, the Meekins Library wishes the best of the season to all townsfolk, friends, and neighbors near and far. Meekins is grateful to have been a part of this special community since 1897.
Outside, Meekins is dressed for the season. A great big evergreen wreath graces the old wooden door. Sparkling white lights line the walkway. Inside the library is warm and toasty. The fireplace is festooned with lights, seasonal books are displayed ready to be read in a cozy chair in the sunshine.
We even find a bit of holiday cheer from 1952 tucked inside one of the scrapbooks kept by Haydenville’s Charles H. Wheeler, M.D. (1879-1955) who compiled scrapbooks of news clippings, photographs, sketches, and memorabilia during the 1940s and 1950s. He carefully kept this card with its seasonal ditty: “Old wood to burn, Old books to read, Old wine to drink, Old friends to trust.” Perfect for the library!
Come find a good book to curl up with or take some time to walk through the past in Dr. Wheeler’s scrapbooks. (Preservation copies of all Dr. Wheeler’s scrapbooks are part of the Meekins Local History Collection.) Borrow some seasonal music or DVDs. Or as the days are getting longer, just come and enjoy the comfortable chairs in the reading room as you plan your garden with a book from the collection.
The Meekins Library is closed on Saturday, December 23rd. We are here on December 26th, 27th, 28th and 30th so you can start the new year on a reading adventure. Greetings of the season to all. Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist and photographer. #throwbackthursday; #tbt.
Posted to Facebook 12/21/2023
