The Homer Public Library unveiled two new additions — one small in size and the other quite large — during the 10th birthday celebration of the current library building on Saturday, Sept. 17.
Guests walking into the library to attend the event were greeted by the new Friends of the Homer Public Library bookmobile, which was open so the public could see the shelves of books inside. Once inside, a rectangle wrapped in orange paper caught the eye before FHPL Vice President Sue Mauger and former board member Cleo Webb unveiled the painting of the library.
On the wall near the circulation desk hang two watercolor paintings of the previous library buildings in Homer, so FHPL thought it would be nice to capture how the library has grown with an image of their newest and largest building, Mauger said. The Homer Public Library’s current home is five times the size of the library built in 1979, which is now a chiropractor’s office next to Don Jose’s restaurant on Pioneer Avenue. They contacted the Kachemak Bay Watercolor Society and chose artist Jan Peyton to create the artwork.
The completed painting shows a mother and child walking into the library, a sight common at the library that holds many children’s programs and one that Peyton can personally relate to.
“I talked with Ann Dixon (library director) and Mercedes Harness (FHPL coordinator) and we walked around the library and talked about the different views. Mercedes was liking the entrance because that is what people see when they go in,” Peyton said. “I took several different photos and then transposed the people I saw. I liked the fact of them walking in. It grounds it in reality. The first time I used the library was to bring my children when they were two and it was an integral part of our life.”
Peyton spent four hours drawing the outline for the painting, which is the most complicated architectural piece she has created. She has been painting since she started with her grandmother at age 10 and got into watercolors over the last 40 years.
“I love the excitement because you never know what you’re going to get,” Peyton said. “There’s an excitement that happens when you place the colors next to each other and see what they do.”
The larger addition to the library, the bookmobile, is a call back to a time just a few decades ago when the library traveled and circulated books via a vehicle. The bookmobile is fully operated by FHPL without city funding and will only use FHPL materials, said FHPL Coordinator Mercedes Harness.
For now, the bookmobile will not lend out books as the FHPL does not have the equipment needed for circulation. Instead, it will start by travelling to schools and selling used books donated to FHPL, which have been previously been sold at a twice-a-year used book sale, Mauger said.
The program is starting out small and slow, Harness said. FHPL hopes to be able to use the bookmobile for community outreach at functions to promote library use and raise awareness of library programs.
“We hope this fall to visit some schools with it and this next summer to incorporate it as part of the summer reading program,” Harness said. “There are so many people in the community who have good memories of a bookmobile when they grew up. It’s a magical, fun thing.”
Anna Frost can be reached at anna.frost@homernews.com.
Friends of the Homer Library board president Andy Haas talks with Olivia and Owen Glasman about the new Friends of the Homer Library bookmobile, which was introduced to the community at the library building’s 10th birthday celebration on Saturday, Sept. 17.
Friends of the Homer Library board president Andy Haas talks with Olivia and Owen Glasman about the new Friends of the Homer Library bookmobile, which was introduced to the community at the library building’s 10th birthday celebration on Saturday, Sept. 17.
