Book Tour ... Vermont Edition

     Breakfast and books. Is there a better way to start the day? Especially when you can get both in scenic Manchester, Vermont.

     Books were meant to be the day's focus, but not on an empty stomach. That lead Gwenne and I to those steep stairs that take you Up for Breakfast. Not exactly handicapped accessible but everything else about this venerable eatery always pleases. Incredibly, we had the place to ourselves as we didn't get there till almost noon on a weekday. Be advised that it can be quite busy earlier in the day and especially on weekends. 

How bad do you want those pancakes?

The Up for Breakfast stairs.

Closing time

As quiet as it gets

     Fueled with French Toast, omelets and coffee, we were ready to move on to books. When in Manchester Center the Northshire Bookstore always comes to mind, and it is a fun place, but today my goal was to check out the Manchester Community Library. It's located on Cemetery Avenue off 7A as it heads north. Look for a relatively new building modeled after the architectural style of connected house, barn and sheds popular in snowy New England.

     Many will remember the Mark Skinner Library a mile or two south in Manchester Village. After the institution moved several years ago to the new building in Manchester Center, the former site was remodeled to become the Silver Fork Restaurant. For an interesting history of that building click here. 

The Silver Fork, inside and out.

From fine literature to fine dining. 

     The new library building is spacious and airy with lots of natural light. Sliding barn doors can be opened or closed according to need. The stacks and a pleasant reading room are to the right of the front desk while a children's section and craft room extend straight ahead. There's a cavernous gallery space in which the current exhibit, Jacqueline Evans' "More than a feeling", almost gets lost. This room probably functions best for programs and large gatherings. An elevator gives access to the basement where the local historical society and the Vermont Room's collection of older reference material share space with a meeting room and small reading nooks.

The Reading Room

The Gallery

     Community is an essential element of this library's mission. This isn't just a place to house books and such. Rather, it's a central gathering place and hub of activity with a long list of groups and programs that use the building. It compares very favorably with the Saratoga Springs Public Library and Crandall Library in Glens Falls even though Manchester serves a smaller (although quite affluent) population. It's one of those places that leave you feeling upbeat and hopeful and that's a feeling we could all use more of. 

     Man can not live by libraries alone. While in Manchester we decided to get a little outdoor exercise by walking the trails at Hildene. This is the 412 acre estate of Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert. The visit was especially meaningful to us because during a cross country trip last year we had stopped at Abraham's childhood home at Knob Creek in Kentucky. Quite a difference in the elder Lincoln's log cabin home and his son's elegant mansion. Talk about upward mobility...

The cabin at Knob Creek

 

The mansion at Hildene

     You could easily spend a day or more touring the grounds here. There are numerous trails that are pleasant to walk or cross country ski. Look one way and the Green Mountains form a long ridge, look the other way and Mt. Equinox towers above. Short on time, we chose the short stroll from the visitors center to the goat dairy. Was great to be around animals that I didn't have to milk!

Mt. Equinox from Hildene

Walking the plank at Hildene

It's a goat thing 

     We finished up our layer cake day of alternating activities at the Martha Canfield Memorial Free Library in Arlington, Vermont. This is a friendly, small town place that feels more like someones book filled home than a large public institution. What's really neat is that it shares a campus with the community's schools, making it easily accessible to students after class. That and the lovely views of the Taconic Mountains make for a memorable setting.

Arlington's Martha Canfield Library

     The Canfield name is well known in Arlington. Martha (or Mattie as she was known) started loaning books from a brick building (now the Arlington Community House) sometime around 1900. Eventually the Russell Collection of Vermontiana was also stored here. Martha left the house to her niece, the well known author and social activist, Dorothy Canfield Fisher and from those beginnings the library evolved to its present location on the road to East Arlington.

  

The Arlington Community House

     The library has a charming interior with a sunny reading room, a balcony above the foyer, open stacks and a children's room off to the side. Downstairs is a small gallery space where there's currently an exhibit on Vermont minerals and mining. The collection of Dr. George Russell, for many years the town physician, is here and open on Tuesdays or by appointment. The staff is so welcoming and the surroundings so inviting that you want to settle into a comfy chair with a good book and just let the hours drift away.

 

Native American artifacts collected from the Battenkill Valley

Displays from the current minerals and mining exhibit

 

The Martha Canfield Library

       Finally, the hours did drift away. Time to head for home and chores. Time to chase the setting sun thru the mountain gap that the Battenkill had carved for us. I'm not claiming to have invented 'library tourism' but I certainly can recommend it. We'll close with a poem by Emily Dickinson: