A picky eater with lots of allergies and her husband visit The Library.

Library Tour

During the month of April, my state introduced Passport to the Libraries. A thirty day challenge to visit as many of the one hundred fifty three participating libraries as possible and collect a stamp in your paper passport. When presented with a challenge, I tend to accept it. And since I’m an overachiever, I tend to accomplish it. This challenge, however, was no easy task. One hundred and fifty three libraries. Thirty days. Most of the libraries closed on Sundays, so that left twenty six days. I didn’t learn about the challenge until the evening of April 6th, so I had already lost six days leaving me twenty to collect all my stamps. Also, on some days, I had to teach class or check in to an appointment. In reality, I only had maybe twelve days to visit all the libraries. Furthermore, as if that wasn’t challenging enough, no two libraries had similar open hours.

Map Quest

Spreadsheets are kinda my thing. I use them for budgeting, vacation planning, tracking calories, and writing outlines. And so, the only way I was going to be able to tackle the Passport to the Libraries challenge was to create a spreadsheet. Once I had all my data (library, address, open hours), I could create a plan. I printed a state map and highlighted all the participating towns. But that was not good enough because some towns had multiple branches (each open different hours), so I jotted some notes on my map and went to work. Using MapQuest (who knew that was still a thing?), I plugged in addresses and manipulated routes every night before bed. On Saturdays, I enlisted the help of my husband. He drove me to countless libraries and helped me track my progress while I ran inside and collected my stamp. On those days, I collected at least eighteen stamps. Even my father pitched in, driving me around on a Thursday for about eight hours. On that day, I collected twenty-two!

Where’s the Library?

On one rainy Saturday, my husband and I wandered into Wallingford. The library was easy to spot. It said The Library in bold black letters right on the front. We parked in the ample back lot and I dodged raindrops as I meandered through a small alley back to the front of the building. And what a beautiful building it was. White marble columns graced the front door and continued into the foyer. I was so happy to be there. I walked in and noticed a small sign indicating a bistro and thought how fun! Books and a snack! As I looked around the foyer, I marveled at the stained glass windows and the majestic fireplace in the adjoining room. But the place was empty. Completely empty. Tables and chairs filled what I assumed to be the reading room, but I didn’t see any books, so I assumed they were stacked further inside.

The only thing that you absolutely have to know,
is the location of the library.
—Albert Einstein

I loudly whispered Hello (because it’s a library and one mustn’t speak too loudly in a library). A young woman appeared from behind one of the columns holding a large silver tray. She smiled as she greeted me. I explained that I was participating in Passport to the Libraries and could she please stamp my passport and show me where the books are. Her eyes narrowed and she looked around, almost like she was certain she was being pranked. I enthusiastically showed my passport page, mostly full with colorful and unique stamps. 

“This isn’t a library.” she smiled, shaking her head.

Now it was my turn to be confused.

“It’s not?” I looked behind me at the room full of tables. “But it says The Library over the front door.”

The woman set her tray down and started to laugh. “This was the Wallingford Library. A very long time ago. Now it’s a restaurant.”

“What?” I refused to believe it. “But the GPS led us here.” I looked around again, my eyes falling on her silver tray and suddenly realizing it was meant for carrying meals to diners.

“The Wallingford Library is a large brick building just a couple doors down.”

“Oh.” I was so embarrassed. “Thank you so much.”

I dodged the raindrops again as I made my way back to my husband Dan. I instructed him to drive to the next parking lot and then I collected my stamp.

Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover

My birthday is in April and I thought wouldn’t it be a great to have a Burger Adventure at a place called The Library during Passport to the Libraries month. Dan agreed and we returned to The Library in Wallingford to celebrate my birthday. I didn’t even care that I hate hamburgers, I was just so excited to be eating in a historic building that was once a library. Built in 1882 with a special government grant, The Ladies Library and Reading Room Association, the library served patrons for one hundred years. We were seated in a little nook next to a fireplace, Dan in a chair and me on an adorable little bench surrounded by pillows. As I glanced around at the walls that seemed to reach forever and admired the beautiful paintings, I imagined ladies in hoop skirts getting lost in the stacks. To me it felt like home.

Click the meal to read all about it

Dan – Steak Tips

Lis – The Liburger

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