Art at the Library

Joan Clark's People and Animals exhibit

It is said that April showers bring May flowers ..... and art!!  Our May artist, Joan Clark hosted a reception opening her exhibit, "People and Animals" on May 3rd for First Friday Art Walk.

Here is how Joan describes her work:
"My mother was instrumental in the start of my painting "career". She was a painter herself and gave me my first set of brushes, frames and tubes of paint at the age of 10.  You could say I'm mostly a self-taught painter.  Most of my painting efforts came during the late 70's and 80's before I started to work outside the home.  When I retired 5 years ago, I enthusiastically picked up the paint brush again and have been enjoying it since.  My favorite subjects are people and animals and I usually work from photos.  It gives me the luxury of time.  Most are oil on canvas or oil on shoji paper.  There are a few watercolors and one ink print.  I'm grateful to the library for giving me a chance to share my paintings with others."

You can view Joan's exhibit during the month of May in the meeting room during regular library hours and on the library website,  bainbridgepubliclibrary.org .  You can also listen to a podcast interview with Joan at  https://www.bestofbcb.org/arts-036-artist-joan-clark-at-the-library/

As always, thank you for supporting local artists and your Bainbridge Public Library.

~ Linda Meier, art coordinator
The Library Garden in April


When was the last time you took the time to stroll through the library gardens? We are all so busy but please take just a few minutes to look closely as the gardens open up . We are honored to have two notable garden leads Ann Lovejoy, a nationally recognized garden writer, and John Van den Meerendonk , a charter member of the Hardy Fern Foundation (HFF) since 1989 and present board member. They have mentored these gardens for more than two decades. I doubt any other library has had such an honor. Historically, we have had such noteworthy leadership in Junco Harui , who designed and created the Haiku Garden, with Doug Tanaka who also created and mentored the Haiku Garden. The volunteers are as critical to the garden's health as sun, water and nutrition. Thanks to the Friday Tidies, David Gibson, Ian Bentryn , Betsey Wittick and the 'John Barrutt and the other amazing 'Composters'.

Take a walk through the Fern Garden behind the library. At this time , we have the unfurling of the fiddleheads of such spectacular ferns such as the Royal fern, Osmunda regalis and its sidekick ' Purpurascens '. The Tassel fern's, Polystichum polybliepharum , furry fronds are amazing to see. Go look, see if you can find it.


Royal Fern

'Purpurascens' Tassel Fern

While we are in the Fern Garden, look for the ethereal Western Maidenhair fern, Adiantum aleuticum . It is uncurling delicate black tendrils that seem impossibly frail. Of heavier stock, but very handsome are the Hart's Tongue ferns, Asplenium scolopendrium, right outside the door to the Children's Library.


Hart's Tongue Fern

Western Maidenhair Fern

There are more than sixty different varieties of ferns in this garden and John Van den Meerendonk is working to add another forty. The HFF has a number of affiliate gardens throughout the United States and our garden is one of fourteen. The HFF supplies ferns to these gardens free of charge in exchange for yearly evaluations of the ferns. John will be giving a fern class at the library July 13 th if ferns catch your imagination.

The Haiku Garden is a stunning Japanese Garden that sports a pond and many lovely pines. A new addition is the Weeping Japanese Larch, Pseudolarix amabilis 'Pendula'. This tree is deciduous and turns a gorgeous golden yellow in the fall before it drops its foliage. The spring foliage is worth a look. It has just emerged and is a luscious soft shade of green on a graceful sinuous tree.


Weeping Japanese Larch


Camelia

Epimediums

Dusky Purple Hellebores

Finally, the Perennial Garden shaped by Ann Lovejoy. It is impossible to look at any portion of the garden without seeing something in bloom, forming endless vignettes. Rhododendrons, azaleas, viburnums, a golden currant (Ribesaureum), flowering trees, tulips, epimediums and more. The list goes on and on. Look closely and you will see small treasures everywhere.

So, it's time to go for a walk, before or after you check out that book or movie.

~ Lynn McIntyre
Library Staff Profile - Courtney Childress



Many Bainbridge Islanders now understand that the Bainbridge Public Library and Kitsap Regional Library work as partners to produce a wonderful culture and environment for all. BPL is a non-profit organization, supported by donations and responsible for the buildings and grounds.
KRL provides librarians, books, films, audiobooks, and many unique programs for adults and children, from tiny ones to teens. Most patrons comment on the great librarians; how helpful, friendly and knowledgeable they are. You find out when you are looking for something unusual, at least one staff member knows exactly where it is.

Recently, a brand-new member joined the KRL staff. Courtney quickly discovered that all the staff members and the partnership were great; engaged and enjoying their job because they like the people  they work with and the patrons. I thought Courtney was a new KRL librarian with a big smile and easy accessibility as are many staff members of the library - but she isn't.

Courtney grew up in Nashville and went to Vanderbilt where she received a BA and a Master's in Education, focused on organization developm ent. She studied the processes of complex organizations: structure, processes, and sometimes, change. There she met her husband Taylor. He was baseball player well-respected in the South Eastern Conference. Courtney met him via her roommate who insisted they would get married one day. They ran in different circles freshman year, he an athlete, and she more the quiet, studious type, but she drove him to buy a bike at the beginning of sophomore year which led to a three-hour lunch and they have been inseparable ever since .

When she was 18, she visited with him on Bainbridge Island to meet his family. She fell in love again - with Bainbridge, which as we know many people do. She married in Seattle after college when she was 22. She and her husband moved to Nashville where Taylor was a baseball coach. They moved around frequently: San Antonio, to Nashville, then 2 summers in Cape Cod then Daytona Beach, where their first child was born. Carter who is now 7, and their daughter Carolyn is 6.
February 1st of 2018 was the date when the family moved to Bainbridge. Courtney had previously worked in the music industry in Nashville, which wasn't going to be a good fit on Bainbridge. Her children in school, she was ready to return to work, though she did not know what kind of a job she would like. She investigated the library. Though she was not and isn't a librarian she was interested in the partnership from an operation develop perspective.
Courtney applied for a job. She was invited for an interview. Following the interview, she took on a new position; Library Supervisor. She works in many ways to be sure that the library works well at all times . She does many tasks: scheduling, cleaning out the refrigerator, filling in the front desk, shelving books, arranging field trips, helping with kids' programs, solving complaints, and being responsible for the site at large. She loves people: doesn't take problems personally, is never bored, enjoys her job and proud to be involved with the library.
Mostly Court n ey is engaged with staff. All are happy to come to work - and so does Courtney. You can find her with a big smile! She'll have most answers for any questions and is open to new ideas.

~ Judy Tingley
Kitsap Great Give Results

Thanks to the donors who participated in Kitsap Great Give this year and named the Bainbridge Public Library as one of your choices! We had a few more donors than last year's KGG, and these generous folks doubled what we raised from a year ago during this 24-hour online campaign! BPL is "the library that Bainbridge built" and we truly appreciate your continued support!
Books Worth Sharing

Save Me From Dangerous Men
by S. S. Lelchuk

Nikki Griffin is a PI with a cozy office above her bookstore in Oakland, California. Her specialty is locating abusive men and urging them (by whatever method needed) to mend their ways. Think Jack Reacher meets Lizbeth Salander ! She is also deeply committed to keeping her younger brother off the streets and off drugs. Like Lizbeth, her childhood was not without its horrors. When the CEO of a Silicon Valley company asks her to tail an employee he suspects is compromising an upcoming product release, Nikki enters an environment rivaling Dave Eggers' The Circle. Her investigation sets off a chain of events that creates one of the best high-tech thrillers I've read in ages! Nikki is a character you want to know better! Pulse-pounding suspense with more twists and turns than the best San Francisco neighborhood, Lelchuk's superb debut begs to become a series. It will keep you reading breathlessly to the very last page .

~ Susan Braun
Have You Seen This Library?



If you're a frequent traveler, then you know that most airports look more like shopping malls these days, offering you more and more ways to part with your money. But Amsterdam 's Airport Schiphol is trying something different, by opening a library in one of the airport ' s busiest waiting areas. More than 45 million travelers pass through Schiphol each year ,  and many of the international passengers have lengthy layovers. On one such recent layover, I encountered the library and spent a couple of hours browsing its brightly open shelves filled with history, architecture, travel and fiction, mostly related to The Netherlands. iPads bolted to tables around the library are connected to the library's website and charging stations are located near every chair and couch. You can't check out the books, but the librarian assigned to the space says that books are rarely stolen. Most books are donations and not necessarily recent, so the airport bookstores don't feel threatened . M any donations are received from passing travelers. There is even a piano if you feel the urge to play! This is much like the main library in Amsterdam that has a piano in its lobby (and a bistro and bar on its roof). It costs about $400,000 per year to maintain the airport library and the Dutch government foots the bill .

~ Susan Braun
Friends of the Library Celebrates!



The Bainbridge Friends of the Library enjoyed a celebratory luncheon on April 26th in the library meeting room. Hosted by the BPL Lasting Legacy Committee, FOL members were thanked for their dedicated service to the Bainbridge Public Library.
The Friends of the Library, a long-standing volunteer group of library lovers, raises the bulk of their funds through the three book sales they sponsor monthly. Known for being a book-loving community, Islanders donate books to the Friends who resell them back to the community! It's a win-win for all and proceeds go to support not only our beautiful library building and grounds but also to purchase some selected materials and to help fund various library programs.
Members are busily sorting and shelving in preparation for the May book sales, so mark your calendar to come pick out some good books for your summer travels! To learn more about the Friends visit them online at bifriends.org .
Friends of the Library Book Sales

The Bainbridge Island Friends of the Library book sales offer gently used books, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks and magazines to support the Friends, who in turn reinvest in the library through endowment gifts, programming and special events, magazine subscriptions, the aquarium in the Children's Library and much more. Daily, scores of donated books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and other items arrive in our book room.  A crew of volunteers work three days a week to sort, price, organize, and shelve these donations for our sales.  As a result, our stock of books and other items on display for sale is constantly renewed. Over a year's period, we receive several hundred thousand books and we are proud that we have only gently used, often new appearing books on our shelves.

Mark your calendar for book sales at Bainbridge Public Library:

Thursday, May 2nd 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Saturday, May 11th 10:00am - 4:00pm
Tuesday, May 28th 10:00am - 4:00pm

Did You Know?

Bainbridge Public Library, a nonprofit organization, owns, operates, and maintains the Library building and grounds through community donations and grants.  Kitsap Regional Library provides the library staff, collection, classes, and a virtual library at KRL.org with funding from property tax revenues.  Together we provide the quality library our community wants and has come to expect.  Thank you for your support!