Page 68 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 47 Spring 2024

Our Poetic Town

Thursday, Feb 1st from 6-7:30pm in the Community
Room and then continue on the first Thursday of every
other month.

Kayleigh Sprague, Head of Teen Services
Spring Cleaning Forsythia Lilacs
Adults are invited to join our new Beginners' Ukulele
Club at the Wallingford Public Library! Adult patrons Winter wanes. The last snow melts From this morning to this evening Lilacs on my windowsill
who have not played before or who are just starting out on the northside of my storage shed In the clouds and steady rains Give off sweet scent, still,
are welcome to attend. Local Ukulelist Steven Lazarus which needs cleaning, an overhaul. Forsythia bushes have blossomed out Even as they fade and wilt
will lead and facilitate the club. Please bring your own Exploding in brightest gold
instruments and join us on the second Monday every I unlock the closed doors, pull them open. Clearly, and without a doubt by Karen Jacobson Burwell
Month from 10-11am in the Collins Room. No registra- Like ancient gates, they creak, groan, The trimming was done just in time
tion required. like my own bones, in need of oil. Stretching upward and reaching out
Golden branches toward heaven climb Baltimore Oriole
Rachel Taylor, Head of Adult Programming Feet planted in the doorway, I survey
for reading aficionados – and everything in between! what must be plucked from this abyss. by Karen Jacobson Burwell Flying,
We wholeheartedly embrace the concept that reading Opening a trash bag, a black hole of no fluttering
is an inherently subjective experience. What is a work through woodlands,
of art for one reader is dreck or a slog for another. Our return for unusables, I toss in leaky Gold and Yellow Greeting orchards,
goal is to do our best to ensure that the library's collec- watering can, surplus plastic containers black and white
tion contains something (or many things) for everyone. and trays, worn-out boots, rusty clippers, The light sweet fragrance of daffodils wings fan the air,
We own classic works of literature, bestselling popular Emanates from the vase on the windowsill feed his fire,
fiction, beach reads, mysteries and thrillers, graphic mud dried rags, broken clay pots, frayed Twenty-four yellow blossoms in a glass vase announce his arrival.
novels, rom-coms and an incredibly wide range of non- rope, a bent trellis, empty spray bottles, Bring outdoor sunshine to this indoor space Then,
fiction covering biography and memoir, history from all hole-riddled kiddie pool, dead mouse, ever so quickly,
over the world, cookbooks, books on science, nature Nearby, tall vase full of forsythia’s gold, the flame’s
and religion and shelves and shelves of books on sports inefficient trowels, a splintered rake. With the daffodils, make a statement bold hot orange
and art of all kinds. There is a similar range of books I have warrior blood in my veins. “Spring is here,” the flowers seem to say is extinguished
across a wide spectrum of writing styles and interests Today, I plunge into spring. Greeting me at the start of each day when
in the library's teen and children's collections. he vanishes
by Karen J. Ciosek by Karen Jacobson Burwell from view.
Our goal is to match each reader with the right book at by Karen J. Ciosek
the right time. Every day, people come to the Informa- Flower
Tech Connect is a new program we’re really passionate tion Desk and ask for a great read. Our highly trained At the end
about - everything is going online, from the bank, the staff absolutely love to get those questions, and care- Line in italics from Book of Love #7 by Emily Dickinson. she resembled an abandoned nest Invitation
pharmacy, to the DMV. If being online feels overwhelm- fully spend time getting to know that person's reading I have no life but this clinging to the arthritic branches of an elm.
ing or confusing to you, the library can help! Tech Con- interests and favorite genres, and most importantly, to nod my head in the wind, Listen to butterflies beat
nect is a free service staffed by digital navigators who trying to figure out the kind of book that that person to stretch my limbs to the sun, White whisps of hair and the hard angles their wings.
will teach you what YOU want to do on your devices. is in the mood for at the time. Then they head to the to catch a bee upon my tongue. of cheekbones. Eyes like cupped hands
Our digital navigators will develop a customized plan stacks and start pulling books. One of the many amaz- Watch a spider climb its
to help you successfully connect to the online world. ing things about the public library is that patrons can I have no life but this striving to hold water. Her hands in mine- invisible thread.
This includes one-on-one training as well as assistance check out a whole stack of books for free, so often a to watch the sky, blue or grey, a collection of twigs. Bird bones. Barely there.
in signing up for free or discounted home Internet as patron will come in looking for one book and head to feel free from earth’s bed, Touch the opening roses,
well as a long-term loan of your very own computer, if home with five. Then, a few weeks later, they will come to savor life above instead. There was nothing left that we needed inhale their perfume
needed. back in looking for more! to say. Her voice had returned to wind without lifting into the air
I have no life but this
Call us today at (203)626-4774 to set up your appoint- Cindy Haiken, Readers’ Advisory Librarian to quench my thirst with cold rain any discernible sounds. My heart had emptied this sun-filled day.
ment with a digital navigator during library business to smile on all who pass by Itself of every meaningful word. Oh, such small miracles.
hours. Lastly, what languages are spoken? to bring joy to someone’s eye.
We have many staff members who speak Spanish at We dovetailed there at the meeting place Glorious gifts waiting
Janet Flewelling, Head of Emerging and Creative Tech- varying levels of fluency and we hold regular Spanish I have no life but this of our grief, which is a room in late afternoon to be witnessed. Free
nologies and French conversation groups that are open to the to be a harbinger of spring treasures to marvel at
public too! Our collection of books and movies is even to inspire a verse or two when the sun is at half mast and gold arms of
What do you feel is the highest lev- more diverse, with a robust Spanish language collec- to live life well before I go. light reach across the cold emptiness of space when you're not
el of reading material you offer? tion and a smaller number of items representing over busy with life.
The Wallingford Public Library has reading material 20 different languages. by Karen J. Ciosek to warm anything along its path.
that ranges from board books that will appeal to new- by Karen J. Ciosek
borns, all the way up to literary fiction and non-fiction Sunnie Scarpa, Library Director by Judy Nacca

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