ATTENTION BPL DONORS!

The donor party scheduled for March 22nd has been cancelled.

It will be rescheduled at a later date. We appreciate the loyal support of each of our donors and enjoy celebrating with you each year at this party but feel that for the health safety of the community it's better to postpone.
Art at the Library


Daffodils, crocuses, snowdrops, and more Diane Walker...

This month's exhibit is titled "Out of the Box" and will feature more of Diane's abstract paintings. You can view this new exhibit during the entire month of March.

Here is Diane's description of this new exhibit:

Being relatively new to painting - and working primarily in abstracts - gives me a wonderful excuse to be constantly exploring new possibilities. Whether the result is visually satisfying or not, I have the fun of testing new colors, tools, techniques, and compositions; I'm not yet locked into a particular style. And, because acrylic paint dries quickly, if I don't like the results I can just keep painting over what I've done until it evolves into something that pleases me.

Like most of the work I show in galleries, the works in last month's exhibit in this room were fairly serene, but not all my work takes that shape. Sometimes, in addition to just experimenting, I use painting to express my frustrations or to respond to events in the world around me. I am grateful to the library for allowing me to display some of my more dynamic and emotional pieces, as well as some of the experiments I chose not to pursue. As my family is fond of saying, "you can't put Walkers in a box," and that seems to be true of my art as well as my life, so here's some of my more out-of-the-box work...

As always, thank you for supporting your Bainbridge Public Library and local artists.
A portion of art sales will be donated to the library.


~ Linda Meier, art coordinator
Book Lovers Night Out
A Great Success!



Held on February 13 th , the 2020 Book Lovers Night Out featured local authors Michele Bombardier, Megan Chance, Jonathan Evison, Jennifer Longo and was moderated by George Shannon. Topics discussed by the panel included the challenges of finding time to write, the obligation of an author to his/her readers, what books have provided inspiration and entertainment, the challenges of social media and responses to thoughtful quotes presented by the moderator. The sold-out crowd was treated to appetizers, wine and dessert provided by the BLNO committee headed by Library Board Member Rachelle Castleberry.
Library Garden Update



A quick update on changes in the BPL gardens!  While winter is upon us, most think of the gardens (and the gardeners) as sleeping, however this is the perfect time to see the garden's many facets that aren't camouflaged by abundant growth.  You can see the bones of the gardens and sometimes the flaws that need correction.  Unfortunately, several trees have had to be removed in the last few months.  
The end of December saw the removal of the Katsura in the Haiku Garden.  This was triggered by an expensive repair. For the second time in five years the invasive Katsura roots blocked a major drain line.  To be good stewards for the donations to the library and its facilities, it was sadly time for the Katsura to go. John Van den Meerendonk and Ian Bentryn, long time mentors of our gardens, are selecting appropriate trees to replace it - with trees that have a more polite root system.  Also, two birch trees by the garden shed were removed January 22 nd .  This was triggered by the concerns of longtime volunteers -- Ann Lovejoy, the Perennial Garden Lead, and John Van den Meerendonk, the Fern Garden Lead. Their concerns were confirmed by Arborist Katy Bigelow.  The advanced rot at the base of the trees and the progressive drift of one tree over the garden shed convinced the BPL that the trees were very dangerous for both library patrons and properties.  A stump remains for the wildlife.

Trees have varied lifespans ranging from 20 years to 100+ years, but it is always difficult to lose one.  However, it is an opportunity to find another amazing tree that will bring beauty into the library gardens. 

~ Lynn McIntyre
Books Worth Sharing



A Madness of Sunshine
by Nalini Singh

Golden Cove is a small, mostly Maori, village on the coast of New Zealand where everybody knows everybody. So, when a young, lovely, very popular woman goes out for a run and vanishes without a trace, her friends and family go into full blown panic. The closeness of the town makes a full-on search and rescue effort easy for the lone police officer in the town, Will to muster. He's new to Golden Cove, but is a well-known and decorated career policeman who is respected by the community. Will is aided in his search for the missing Miriama by Anahera, recently returned to Golden Cove after the death of her Rockstar husband. As the search progresses it becomes clear that someone in the town is responsible for Miriama's disappearance and many residents are not sharing all that they know. Will this become a series? Will Anahera and Will become an item? This debut by New Zealander Singh is a top notch crime novel set in a smothering town in an unforgiving landscape and populated by people haunted by past grievances, present secrets and just possibly a serial killer .Be prepared to do nothing else once you begin this hugely suspenseful story...and thanks to Karen Kopp for urging me to read it!

~ Susan Braun
Fun Library Facts

 

One of the most tangible examples of Industrialist Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy is the founding of 2,509 libraries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries throughout the English-speaking world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Of these libraries, 1,679 of them were built in the United States. Carnegie spent over $55 million of his wealth on libraries alone and he is often referred to as the "Patron Saint of Libraries." Source - Carnegie.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:

Saturday, March 14th 10:00am - 4:00pm
Tuesday, March 24th 1:00pm - 1:00pm

Did You Know?

 

  • Bainbridge Public Library, a separate 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.