The cold days and long nights are here, so it must be winter in the Northeast. When thinking about how to "do" winter, I always find it helpful to look towards the places that have even more of it than we do. Several years ago, when we got tired of listening to people complain about the weather, my family went up to Montreal for one of the many outdoor festivals. Everyone was bundled up and having a great time as the snow came down. We guiltlessly ate calorie-rich traditional food to keep us going and joined in the celebration of the season. In the Scandinavian countries , the concept of friluftsliv (open air living) keeps people out and about year-round. This year, more than most, it's worth beefing up your winter wardrobe and coming to terms with winter. We are all under unusual amounts of stress and fresh air is a proven antidote. There are lots of nearby places to ski, snowshoe and skate but even a brisk walk around town to view the lighted tractors can leave us feeling invigorated. It's also a great way to get together with the friends we won't be seeing in our homes for a while. We don't have to be a super athletes to enjoy winter, we just need a different attitude and the right socks.

While you are indoors, the library is continuing to provide fun, informative and inspirational programming. (Be sure to check the listings because a lot of them require signups to get Zoom links.) And then, of course, we always have lots of great reading, listening and viewing just waiting on our shelves. I have been increasing my reading time a bit as I "train" for the upcoming Toys for Girls and Boys Readathon. Some chores have gone undone as I dedicate myself to sprints (sneaking in a chapter before dinner) and long distance work (staying in bed reading on Saturday morning) but the vacuum will always be there, right? If you too want to participate in this worthy cause, get prizes and have an excuse to read, see the flyer below and sign up.

This winter will also be a season of change at the library. Very soon, we will be starting the renovation of the main floor. To get ready for the contractors, we will close for at least a week while we pack and disassemble and move things. While the work is happening, we will put a lot of our books in storage and go to curbside only service. Patrons will still be able to request books and movies through the catalog and pick up/drop off here. We will still provide other services like copy and fax. We don't have a definite start date yet but I wanted to let people know that this is coming. We will be spreading the word when we have a schedule set, so keep your eyes peeled. Although there will be some short-term inconvenience for all of us, we are looking forward to emerging from winter with an updated look and better functionality, so we can continue the tradition of providing our community with the best possible service.

Best wishes to all for a safe, happy and well-read holiday season,

Annie

Monday: 9am - 2pm

Tuesday: 3pm - 7pm

Wednesday: 9am - 2pm

Thursday: 3pm - 7pm

Friday: 9am - 2pm

Saturday: 10am - 1pm

ADITTIONAL CURBSIDE SERVICE ADDED M-F 2-3pm

Little readers can burn through books like nobody's business. Parents and caregivers who don't want to spend hours looking through the catalog can always request a book bag. Each bag contains ten books with a variety of authors and topics and is numbered so you can keep a list of the ones you've already read. Just call and ask for a book bag or two. Summer should be easy!

Copy, scan and fax are available as a curbside service. Call and ask. We're happy to help.

Check our new online Community Bulletin Board, an online space visible to all of our patrons to check out upcoming events and announcements that may be beneficial!

As a patron of the Greenwich Free Library you have access to Heritage Quest for FREE and Online! Heritage Quest is a comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, convenient research guides, interactive census maps, and more. Just grab your library card and click the link to get started.

Every library is handling the Covid Crisis a bit different. Click here to see full chart of all of the area libraries and what they are providing to the community.