So it’s being a hot, hot summer… unsurprisingly! EVERY year now is among the ten hottest years ever recorded, and it keeps getting worse.
*During heat waves the counties and other agencies often announce lists of “cooling stations,” where people can go for some relief before the dangerous heat makes them ill. Very often, these cooling stations are our public libraries.
*This makes sense – apart from the mall, the library is about the only place you can just “drop in” without charge – plus, there are books, magazines, computers and puzzles to occupy you, AND things to occupy the kids. If you want to check materials out, a card in any of the 49 Southern Tier System libraries works in just about any of the others.
*Not every library is air conditioned, so you shouldn’t just make that assumption. But nearly all of the libraries I’ve been in (which is quite a few) ARE.
*The smaller libraries and reading rooms are only open a limited number of hours per week, and some libraries (even large ones) close altogether for summer weekends. I understand their situation. In an institution dependent on volunteer workers, summer in the Finger Lakes makes scheduling almost impossible. ALL of the Chemung County libraries are closed for summer weekends.
*But there are still four other counties in our Southern Tier Library System, so what about them? My wife Joyce is a professional at Dormann Public Library in Bath, and she helped me assemble a list. But it’s always possible that some of information is not up-to-date, so CHECK FIRST before making a trip!
*A few libraries are open on summer SUNDAYS: Alfred (noon to 4), Montour Falls (8 to noon), and Watkins Glen (2 to 4).
*Alfred is open on Sundays but not on Saturdays. This sounds familiar to me, coming from southeastern New England. That stretch of the country, like Alfred, is historic Seventh-Day Baptist territory. I speculate that that history underlies the unusual scheduling.
*Watkins and Montour are open Saturdays in addition to Sundays. Andover is open the first Saturday of each month, while Arkport is open first and third Saturdays.
*To break up the list a little, let’s take the every-Saturday-but-never-Sunday roster by counties. They vary from two hours of operation up to six – usually three or four.
*ALLEGANY: Almond; Angelica; Belfast; Belmont; Canaseraga; Cuba; Fillmore; Friendship; Scio; and Whitesville. (MAYBE Rushford and Genesee – we’re seeing contradictory reports.)
*YATES: Branchport; Penn Yan; Dundee; Middlesex; Rushville. (All of them, Katie)
*SCHUYLER: MAYBE Odessa and Hector – reports are contradictory.
*STEUBEN: Avoca; Bath; Canisteo; Cohocton; Corning; Hammondsport; Howard; Jasper; Prattsburgh; Pulteney; Savona.
*Some of these libraries (or their settings) have special features BESIDES air conditioning. Bath (Dormann Public Library) has its own cafe, so you can keep cool with smoothies. Hammondsport (Taylor Memorial) has its own lovely park with shade trees and a gazebo, and it’s only a few steps down to the Keuka Lake waterfront. Branchport (Modeste Bedient) is at the other end of the lake, and has its own nature preserve right outside. Montour Falls is just a few steps from the falls (besides having lovely picture windows).
*Down the hall from the Watkins Glen Library is the International Motor Racing Research Archive, where there’s almost always a classic racing car on exhibit. Angelica is in a lovely small-village setting, with an outdoor farmers’ market down the street in the Circle.
*There are also open libraries just over the edge of Southern Tier Library System territory in Dansville, in Naples, and in Wellsboro, PA (Green Free Library). Right next door in Wellsboro is Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center, where exhibits are always free admission.
*So keep cool, and be cool. Even on weekends, if only for a few hours, the library waits.