Welcome to Spring

Today's view outside the Children's Room

Today marks the second day of spring, but here in Maine we know that that date is arbitrary.  This was especially made clear to us this week when we had to reschedule our Irish History program due to the snowstorm.  

Therefore, we are holding our breath and hoping that Erin Bishop will be able to make it here on Thursday, March 28th at 6:30 p.m. to present her program on "The World of Mary O'Connell."  

The first week of April we are looking forward to two more spring-related programs.  On Thursday, April 4th at 6:30 p.m. Master Gardener Brian Smith returns to share some tips on "Growing Small Fruits and Berries." If you've always enjoyed strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries find out how you can grow these delicious treats in your own backyard.

On Friday, April 5th at 12:00 noon we are kicking off a new monthly program we're calling "Lunch and Learn."   Join us in the Weymouth Gallery the first Friday of each month and learn about a new subject. Feel free to bring a lunch to eat during the presentation.  We'll provide beverages and dessert.   This month  Maine Audubon biologist Traczie Bellinger will present a program on Maine's endangered shorebird, the Piping Plover.  Learn about the bird's natural history as well as the efforts and conservation methods used to protect the species.  

As you can see, even though it doesn't feel much like spring here, we're doing all we can to help you feel a bit warmer.  We hope to see you soon.

March Madness

March seems to have come in like a lion this year, but we're hoping that Spring is right around the corner (today's due date: March 29th!). March is also when we observe St. Patrick's Day, and basketball fans start filling out their brackets for the NCAA basketball tournaments, or "March Madness."  Here at the Wells Public Library we have a couple of programs to entertain, inform, and help you get through the last gasp of winter.

On March 19th at 4:00 p.m. children ages 5 - 9 are invited to attend our "March Madness Storytime."  Devin has planned a fun event involving sports stories and a sports-themed craft. Devin and Kayla are also featuring some of our children's books in our first "March Madness Match Up."  Come in anytime between March 19th and April 8th and select a book in order to determine the favorite book in the children's room. 

For those interested in Irish culture we invite you to "The World of Mary O'Connell" on Tuesday, March 19th at 6:30 p.m.  Historian Erin I. Bishop, PhD will share the story of Daniel O'Connell, a young Irish barrister and politician, and his distant cousin, Mary O'Connell.  In 1800 the two began a clandestine correspondence that led to their marriage two years later, jeopardizing Daniel's inheritance.  Erin will explore through their story an intimate portrait of one woman and her family, providing us with a panoramic view of the fascinating social and domestic life of the 19th century Irish Catholic middle class.  Although I have an avid interest in history, I don't know much about Irish history, so I'm really looking forward to this program.

As always, these programs are free of charge, and are made possible by the Friends of the Wells Public Library (the Mary O'Connell program is co-sponsored with Wells-Ogunquit Adult Community Education).  Registration is not necessary.

A Celebration of Reading

March 2 marks the birthday of Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.  Since 1997 the NEA has marked this date with "Read Across America" events in schools, libraries, and museums as a way to celebrate and encourage reading.

Here in Wells, Maine, the Wells Elementary School hosts a Celebration of Reading Day on the first Friday in March.  Guest Readers are invited to visit a classroom and read some of their favorite books to the students.  It's a day I always eagerly look forward to; the only problem being deciding which of my favorite books I would read.

Today I read to a great group of students in Mrs. Guerrette's 4th grade class and selected an excerpt from The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The Little House books were childhood favorites, and for many reasons The Long Winter is one of my favorites.  It recounts the events in the Ingalls family during the winter of 1880-1881, and how they nearly starved due to the fact that the trains couldn't get through with supplies (to read more about that winter, click here).

My favorite part of the book is towards the end.  It's April, and the blizzards continue to rage on. The family is subsisting on coarse brown bread, and is burning hay to keep warm.  Laura is dragging through the days of cold and hunger and darkness, but Pa keeps up a positive outlook for his family.  "It can't beat us!  It's got to quit sometime and we don't.  It can't lick us.  We won't give up."  Laura goes to bed a bit more optimistically, and in the middle of the night, 

"Laura heard the wind.  It was still blowing furiously but there were no voices, no howls or shrieks in it.  And with it there was another sound, a tiny, uncertain, liquid sound that she could not understand...The little sound that she heard was a trickling of waterdrops.  The eaves were dripping.  Then she knew...The Chinook was blowing.  Spring had come.  The blizzard had given up; it was driven back to the north."

Every year about this time, I start to feel a little like Laura, thinking that I can't take much more of the snow and the cold and the dark.  But then, one day I leave at 5:00 and it's still light out.  The crocuses start peeking up at the edge of my foundation.   The wind still blows, but it's warmer and gentler, and the giant snowbanks in my backyard start to recede. Whenever the winter starts to feel a bit too long, I think of the Ingalls family, and appreciate the fact that despite the blizzards, I still live in a nice, warm house, and can get whatever food I need.  It also helps to remember that just when winter feels like it's gone on too long, the Chinook appears and takes it away.

I want to thank Mrs. Guerrette and her students for listening to me today.  It was a great pleasure to share one of my favorite books with you and to  remember that spring is just around the corner.