Manchester City Library

The photos, news, and now confirmation of the tornadoes that visited NH yesterday got me wondering if they had been here before. I asked around and no one in the Library recalled there having been a tornado in their memory. It turns out that our memories are either too short or just not that good (maybe both!). From the May 1959 issue of New Hampshire Profiles, we found an account of September of 1821:

…In the northwest, a black, brassy cloud was moving slowly toward Croydon and Cornish. Hanging down out from its under side was a dark cylinder that resembled a great elephant’s trunk let down from heaven.

Suddenly the wind shifted violently to the north, and in a few minutes two of the True’s children lay buried under chimney bricks, Mr. Flanders was standing paralyzed on his cellar stairs, and the Huntoom baby was thrown into Lake Sunapee.

New Hampshire’s vicious tornado had struck.

Mr. Fred W. Lamb of the NH Historical Society wrote The Great Tornado of 1821 in New Hampshire giving a different description of the same storm. It seems to be the largest, but not the only NH tornado by any stretch. The NH Department of Safety reports an average of two tornado touchdowns a year. Despite the surprising frequency, yesterday’s tornado fatality was only the fifth in the state’s history.

Cynthia O’Neil, our accomplished genealogy and local history expert, answered my curiosity with a stack of newspaper clippings from the New Hampshire Room. I bet she’d do the same for you, if you’re interested in more.

Thanks to the generosity of the Manchester Library Foundation, the West Branch Community Library has installed a new large screen/projector system that’s almost like a movie theater. Every Friday at 3:00 the West Branch Library shows a great movie –one that has recently been released on DVD or one that is a timeless classic. Right now we’re celebrating the new Indiana Jones movie with an Indiana Jones marathon. Movies and other events at West are all online or contact us via email of phone 624-6560. The West Manchester Community Library is located at 76 North Main St., Manchester.

When I started my job here I was most excited to bring the Library and its vibrant atmosphere online. One of the first ways I endeavored to do so was participating in the 365 Library Days Project.

Flickr is one of the premier online sites for sharing photos; it boasts a large (some say 1.5 million users) and vibrant online community. There are Flickr Groups for any interest, many of them are geographically related - there’s even a special one for Manchester! The 365 Library Days Group is just over 400 worldwide libraries, each having made the commitment to upload one photo for every day of the year. We began participating on our in-library New Year’s Day celebration and have kept it up ever since. Today we uploaded our 200th photo!

The project, within the library, is a collaboration between me and Yvonne, one of our skilled reference librarians (she blog too!). Yvonne has done a phenomenal job taking lovely photos - really capturing the beauty and spirit of the library. You’ll notice a photo banner at the top of our library webpage created with the latest five of out 365 Libs contributions. Now that we’re over halfway to our goal of one for every day of the year…. What shall we do next year to top it?

Our list of activities includes crafts, books, games, a chance to make new friends and more! All welcome - NO sign-up necessary. For Every Thursday in July from 11:00 - 12:00pm in the Winchell Room for Grades 6 to 12. FREE!

Contact:
Kate Norton, 624-6550 ext. 604, AIM: katehwtt

Coming in August we will be getting a new system to help us keep track of books, movies, cds, more as well as manage library cards and accounts. This will be a huge change for us and there are a few things you should know:

1. We are turning off our old system on August 21st. After date you will still be able to find books on our website, but you will not have access to your account - renewals or placing requests - until we’re fully functional on the new system around August 27th. Other than that you probably won’t notice much, but please do be patient with us as we learn the new system.
2. Around August 27th, you will see a brand new look for the library catalog - things will be different, but don’t panic, we have worked hard to make sure you can still do everything you can do now. There just might be a learning curve.
3. If you have library materials saved in the My List area of your account, please save them or email them to yourself. They cannot be transferred to the new system and will be lost.

We are very excited about this change - we expect it will improve many of the services we provide. Most of all, searching for library materials should get much easier! If you have any questions, as always, please contact us.