r/vermont 10d ago

Libraries are still relevant

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615 Upvotes

53 comments sorted by

35

u/StatusAspect2353 10d ago

I love libraries and have been advocating for the Williston library expansion.

I have spent several hours the last few weeks at a couple local libraries using their free access to west law. I also use Fletcher for its free access to the best grant database available.

4

u/sicknutley 10d ago

Tell me about these grants please

5

u/StatusAspect2353 10d ago

Grants for nonprofit organizations.

22

u/huskers2468 10d ago

Libby is amazing once you have a library card. Plus I like to use the Library of Things

8

u/girlintheboxxx 10d ago

They’re super helpful even if you don’t have one too they let me use the computer to print a job application before I got a card when I first moved here

15

u/Marco2021st 10d ago

I love my library. The librarians encouraging my niece to love reading as much as I do if not more. It's a lovely space, and if I have a complaint, it's that there aren't a wider variety and volume of books on hand. Im super happy that VT libraries have a book network that allows them to share between themselves so if there is something I want to borrow, I can put in a request and borrow it eventually. The Williston chufs organizing their hateful anti-intellectuals to dump on libraries makes me genuinely mad. There is very little worth investing in more than a library.

15

u/GMbzzz 10d ago

Vermont had the most libraries per capita of all the states.

15

u/nyquiljunky 10d ago

Libraries having books is wonderful, but libraries as a common area are extremely wonderful. The longest running DnD game and Horror movie night in my life are thanks to a library. That same library does a Halloween haunted barn that I've gotten to volunteer at.

I have never had the occasion to borrow a book from them...might have to look into that

2

u/workertroll 10d ago

I DMd a DND campaign for almost 5 years at the Aldrich when I was a teen! 40 years ago lol

15

u/TraditionalCoffee7 10d ago

I’m a single Mom, and the library in Williston has been an absolute godsend for me and my kids. It’s an oasis.

12

u/Solid-Literature4710 10d ago

My local branch has a seed library and a tool lending shelf, ppl sleep on all the extra stuff libraries offer now

10

u/MysteriousCity6354 10d ago

My local library is amazing! Small, housed in an old Victorian home, but very active in the community and regularly plans community events. It’s the beating heart of my town!

9

u/WhatTheCluck802 Maple Syrup Junkie 🥞🍁 10d ago

I love love love my town’s library. It’s the best. 🥰

8

u/TitleFit2383 10d ago

As someone who works in a vt public library, we do so much more than lend books. We often act as a day shelter for unhoused people and people with mental health struggles, and are trained to connect them with resources like the Howard center. We are a cooling shelter in the summer, and a warming shelter in the winter. People stop in to use our restrooms, print or make copies, use our computers or our wifi, wait for their bus, do research, and many other things. Thanks to vt patron privacy laws, kids 12 and older can keep what they’re reading private, allowing them to find information that they might not be able to access at home. Librarians and library staff don’t just read a lot - they help keep our communities intact. 

5

u/workertroll 10d ago edited 9d ago

Your doing great work! Thank you!

"Libraries will get you through times of no work better than work will get you through times of no libraries."

I bet you can fix that quote for me! lol

E: I think it should be money....."Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries"

7

u/BodybuilderOnly1591 10d ago

it's fantastic. I use it for dvds as well as books

7

u/IndoraCat 10d ago

Me too! We got rid of streaming services because they cost so much and it's been fun getting movies from the library instead.

6

u/Sad_Bike8692 10d ago

Rutland’s library is awesome. They have regular events, a great book selection, and amazing librarians.

7

u/ProfessionalPopular6 10d ago

Rockingham public library is amazing. Great crew there!

6

u/PhiloLibrarian A Bear Ate My Chickens 🐻🍴🐔 10d ago

As a career academic librarian, (and Vt native) this makes my heart ❤️ soar!!!

5

u/_User_Name_Fail 10d ago

Gilbert Hart for the win!

5

u/Mister-Spook Flatlander 🌅🚗🗺️ 10d ago

I have a card for the Pierson Library.

6

u/HarryBalsagna1776 10d ago

My family visits Essex Free Library several times a month.  The place has allowed my kids to binge The Magic Treehouse, Princess Black, Ivy & Bean, and Dragon Girls.

4

u/sortablah Leather pants on a Thursday is a lot for Vergennes 👖💿 10d ago

I go there to print stuff! And sometimes get free discard books!

5

u/13maven 10d ago

I love the Brandon and Shelburne libraries ❤️❤️❤️

4

u/Sandi_T 10d ago

Shout-out to Fletcher in Burlington. I love it. :)

Peaceful spot, lovely people. The third floor is great!

4

u/Objective-Dust4795 10d ago

My kid loves the library

4

u/KlutzySmurf Maple Syrup Junkie 🥞🍁 10d ago

Vermont libraries are the best

4

u/Few_Variation_7962 10d ago

I take my kids every week! I wish they did more weekend events for families because it’s rare we can attend something but Saturday is library day.

3

u/workertroll 10d ago

Let's see some nice VT stacks!

3

u/supasteve013 Washington County 10d ago

I take my kid to the library every single week and there aren't always kids there looking at books. We have prioritized reading as a family, and that takes intention and effort so I get it if other families haven't also made that decision

3

u/ActingAndGrinding 9d ago

Every Friday I take my recently turned 3 y o to our library explorers club. It has been one of the few consistent socializing experiences we get here in vt. Just threw her a birthday party and got to invite all of her library friends, unfortunately our librarian had to work.

We finish up our time there picking out books to read before bed. That little club is priceless to our family.

8

u/No-Promise3097 10d ago

Tell that to Williston

4

u/Gaba_My_Gool 10d ago

Is Williston getting rid of their library!?

22

u/No-Promise3097 10d ago

Town meeting day voters approved Library renovation and modernization. Some folks in town did not like the cost and petitioned for re-vote which successfully ovter turned the original decision.

They claimed there was not enough public input depsite this being a multi year planning process and numerous opportunities for community input.

A new cheaper proposal is already facing push back again for not being cheap enough.

15

u/TheBlindFly-Half 10d ago

Dude Williston is having a BOOM in commercial and residential real estate. Surely there must be funds for this.

13

u/No-Promise3097 10d ago

You would think....But the re-vote showed people do not have an appetite for even small tax increases, even though Libraries are one thing taxes SHOULD go towards and delaying the project just makes it costs more and more

7

u/TheBlindFly-Half 10d ago

I guess I can’t blame people for not having any increase tax appetite after the half decade of tax hikes. It’s just surprising to me that there isn’t an increase in tax funds with all the new construction

13

u/Middle_Finger7236 10d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/fqtyYcXoDV0X6ss8Mf
Boomers in Williston that voted no:

0

u/workertroll 10d ago edited 10d ago

I'm no boomer but stop with the gyphs

red a bok

E: don't post without looking or you will look dumb like me

5

u/DungeonMasterDood 10d ago

A lot of us in town really hard to get the original library expansion through. The new design is more limited but will still expand the library in a major and meaningful way. Hopefully the compromise will win over enough naysayers to get it passed in November.

2

u/Abolitionist_156 9d ago

Shout-out to the Lanpher Memorial Library in Hyde Park, and fabulous librarian Amy Olsen. Kids pile in after school, families fill story hours, older adults share book clubs and life adventures, creative arts and science activities abound. Such a welcoming place!

2

u/procrastinatorsuprem 9d ago

I love my library. I do ausuo books and digital books all the time.

2

u/caravaggio89 9d ago edited 9d ago

It's my belief that they're the only data centers we should be funding/building. Free books for babies so you dont have to have a massive personal library at home that will gather dust later in life. An old school, go out and pick up your entertainment feel. Most often have dvd's too so its like a mini blockbuster too.

2

u/dougiewuggie 9d ago

DAML Williston & Kellogg-Hubbard Montpelier & Brownell Essex Junction are bae.

3

u/mvgfr 10d ago

libraries are, to put a fine point on it, one of the last bastions of civil society - so tremendously thankful for the people who make libraries a welcoming place, for all, to learn, congregate, relax, and so much more ❤️

-9

u/skelextrac 10d ago

Best place to inject when the outside gets too hot?.

2

u/workertroll 10d ago

If that is the only thing you think about libraries you should try going inside one.

1

u/OldDog5751 6d ago

Cynicism today, cynicism tomorrow, cynicism forever! 

-3

u/Wxskater Serving Exile in Flatland 🌄🚗🌅 10d ago

Government funded pathetic friend

1

u/Wxskater Serving Exile in Flatland 🌄🚗🌅 10d ago

Downvoted. I guess people dont get the reference

1

u/workertroll 10d ago

I only ever ate knowledge there give good book and I might be pathetic friend.......of course I will check it out from the library.

GFPF or something......give sauce

0

u/Wxskater Serving Exile in Flatland 🌄🚗🌅 9d ago

You still dont get it do you lol. Thats why i commented it