We recently visited & renewed the membership of our local library. We used to depend on the library for our reading, but disability has made actually getting there more awkward. We've always remained members though.
The library here in the village was an old Victorian edifice with a flight of steps to negotiate before entry, so we had had to go to the one in Morecambe. In many ways it is an excellent library but, for us, necessitates a separate trip to just go there with the result we've never been that often. Instead we've relied on our own books, often second-hand, and pass-ons from friends & family. A new library was built in the village a couple of years ago but we were out of the library habit so hadn't actually visited.
The Fox has decided to do a revision course in French in preparation for the holiday & so, as we were passing anyhow, we decided to go into the local library to see what courses they have there. While we were there we thought we'd renew our library tickets as they were somewhat out of date.
The experience so far has been utterly positive. At this library you can take out jigsaws free which has given me a whole new range of jigsaws to tackle. At present I'm tackling "The Baptism of Jesus" by Perugino. He's not an artist I know, or had even heard of. Clearly from the style of the painting he is from the Renaissance period. Indeed, inside the box I've found a leaflet on the artist & discover his dates were c1448 - 1523.
The picture fascinates me. It has a vast crowd scene, all dressed in 15th century attire - I can just imagine the Medici court so dressed.It looks as though there is a lot of detail in the sea of faces. I'm looking forward to getting to know the characters depicted. I gather the painting is part of the Vatican Museum collection.
I also discovered the library holds a monthly book club. I'm not quite sure about the idea of a book club. I love the idea of being encouraged to read books & authors I possibly wouldn't read otherwise, but on the other hand I'm not sure how much I appreciate the discussions on the books. From what I've heard on radio & TV I get the impression that these debates are often rather superficial, or alternatively too serious. Nonetheless I've started to read this month's book "The Heretic's Daughter" by Kathleen Kent, a book I'd never even heard of. So now I'm back in the world of the Salem witch trials in late 17th century New England. I can't quite get out of my mind the portrait of the period shown in the film version of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible". I'm not sure if I'll actually attend the discussion but it is wonderful to have in hand once more a plastic coated hard backed version of a novel.
The library also does other courses & sometimes puts on plays. So it is we're contemplating going to a performance of "All the Great Books (abridged)". It's being promoted as "a 90 minute tongue-in-cheek, slapstick rollercoaster" encompassing books "from Pride and Prejudice and 1984 to Green Eggs and Ham and Harry Potter". It's being done by Lancaster University students. The only problem is the performance at our local library is in the evening & I'm not always too bright to attend a 2 hour show (including the half hour interval) so late. The only afternoon performance would involve a trip into Lancaster library on a busy Saturday, a time we usually try to avoid as much as possible.
Our only disappointment so far with the new library is that the Fox has been unable to find a French course to suit him. The only ones available are basic beginner's French, whereas his French is far more advanced than that. He just needs something to help the words & grammar to come to the fore of his mind quicker for when we arrive in France. Still he thinks he's found something more suitable on the internet. If I have time I will try to watching the odd French film or read a novel in French off our own shelves (I didn't notice any foreign language books on the library shelves.) Otherwise I'll just rely on the words coming back quickly once I'm in France. They usually do.
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