Irene's newest grandchild

7 month old Mariana and her grandmother, library volunteer Irene Hopper, came to visit this week. What a sweet baby. We fell in love!

Her name was Lola

The Stewarts have a new Havanese puppy named Lola. Pictured here, Elizabeth Rhymer, Judy Johnson, Howsie Stewart and sweet little Lola.

Check Out Louie (April Fool!)

Louie pics

Louie has had a good winter working here at the library. Here he is soaking up some sun and enjoying a nap with Joel.

Hard work!

A Visit from the 2nd Graders

How nice to have some down time to spend with some good books.

A special new friend

Bill and Sally Stoops have a new addition in their house -- a chocolate lab puppy named Millie. Millie came for a visit this week and was a big hit. Here Sierra is meeting her for the first time.

Fun at Storytime

We had a big group of storytime kids this week, including some visitors (Spencer & Jackson's cousins), some storytime graduates, and a great group of regulars. Here some of them are showing off their candy airplanes they made and otherwise having fun.

Wii Fun

Patrick and Hannah need to jump at the same time to get the mining cart across the chasm.

















Rebecca & Kathryn concentrate on the Wii game.


















Patrick & Hannah lean to make the mining cart make the turn.


















Audrey & Sierra work together to get the mining cart to turn left on the Wii game Outdoor Challenge.

Louie goes nuts for Joel

Whenever Joel comes in the library, Louie will wake from a sound sleep and greet him loudly, MOW! MOW! (rhymes with "cow") and then will reach up high to give him a hug. These days he then insists on jumping up on his shoulders and licking his ear. Joel does not get this kind of greeting from him at home. Go figure!

Valentine Goofballs

We've got some nutty patrons and here are a couple of them - Tanner and Francesca. Happy Valentine's Day!

Doggie visit

Abigail and Melissa brought their miniature doberman pinscher puppy, Nanook, to visit the library recently. Nanook and her siblings were abandoned by a dumpster in a town in Alaska and she traveled all the way to NH to live with these sweet girls in Freedom. My, what big ears she has!

Dressing Up for Valentine's

Sylvia Carney (Secretary of the Friends) came in today with Valentine's decorations including a headband for yours truly. She has decorated a table in the lobby and has packaged romance novels to sell to benefit the library. If romances are your thing, you should come take a look and if you just enjoy Valentine's Day, you should come see the beautiful display she made!

A fuzzy patron

Dawn Alexander sent me this photo of her cat, saying "I was out doing errands this morning and came home to my cat Henry reading a library book in bed! "

Henry has good taste - he's been reading "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World", a book so popular here at the Freedom Public Library we had to get a second copy!

Puppy Visit

It's been a long time since we had a puppy visit the library. Today we got to meet Rohan, the five month old Coton puppy owned by the Florio-Nicoll's. Here is an adorable picture of him with two of his "sisters", Tava and Cora. Ever heard of a Coton? What an attractive breed!

Storytime Kids Decorate Cupcakes

They ate them almost before they were completely decorated, but who can blame them?

Busy Friends

A group of Friends got busy in the library workroom Saturday, organizing donated books and toys. No sooner had the area at the top of the stairs been cleared of books, another two boxes of donations came through the door! Ellen says we need to put that corner on birth control :) We now have a fresh collection of brand new-looking books to choose from in our on-going book sale area and staff will actually be able to walk through the workroom without stumbling over boxes, thanks to Anne, Ellen, Sylvia and Lee.

2nd Graders Visit the Library

Yay! A new school year means a whole new batch of 2nd graders to visit the library and get library cards and pick out books to borrow. This year the class is small, only 7, and two of them were absent the day they visited (and one is blocked in the picture by a library book - sorry Mathieu!). The class walked to the library with their teacher, Mrs. Pohl, and classroom aide Jodi Perry, and what a perfect fall day for a walk!

I read them If You Find A Rock, a beautiful book by Peggy Christian perfect for this age child about all the different kinds of rocks you might find out on a walk, including wishing rocks, splashing rocks, and worry rocks. I also read Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson about the benefits of helping each other out. After several animals help a witch find various items she's dropped from her broom, she in turn allows them to join her on the broom. Then the animals help her out of a pretty scary situation involving a dragon. You should see the deluxe broom she conjurs up at the end!

After I read to them, the children each got to choose a book to borrow. I took their picture before they headed back to school. I am looking forward to their visit next month!

Fall Storytime is underway at the Freedom Library. Every Wednesday morning at 10:00 we gather for stories, songs, fingerplays, games, rhythm instrument play, and crafts. Children ages 2-5 and their caregivers are encouraged to attend! Here are some pictures from a recent storytime.

Duct Tape is Cool

I bought about a dozen different colors of duct tape and Mary Rhymer taught other teens how to make a wallet out of duct tape. We created some pretty neat wallets and Mary and some of the others have gone on to create more items out of duct tape including purses and sandals. Here are some of the teens working on their projects.

Local Celebrity Visits Writing Workshop

Gair MacKenzie of WMWV radio station visited participants of the summer's first writing workshop on July 3rd. Gair came to pay tribute to Jim Clemons who ran the workshop to ever greater numbers of enthusiastic writers for four summers and who died on April 6, 2008. Gair became interested in Jim after reading his obituary and learning of all the great things he'd done in his life and the ways in which he helped people in this area over the past five years. Gair came to encourage this year's writers and to tell them some of what he learned about Jim when he was researching a radio piece he did on him. Gair told them about his years as First Petty Officer in the Navy and his volunteer work with Green Mountain Conservation Group doing water testing.