By Dot Bergin
If all goes as planned, the Bedford Free Public Library will install two authentic New York City outdoor concrete chess/checker tables on the driveway-side entrance to the building sometime this summer.
At their June 11 meeting, the Trustees authorized Board member Rachel Field and Library Director Richard Callaghan to follow through on a vote of approval taken earlier by the Bedford Free Public Library Corporation to purchase the concrete tables. Funds for purchase and installation of the tables will come from Library Corporation monies, not from the regular Library operating budget. (The Corporation, which consists of three members of the Board of Trustees, holds responsibility for trust funds left to the Library.)
If you have ever visited Washington Square Park in New York City, you know how popular the outdoor chess tables are. And now, Bedford’s chess enthusiasts will soon be able to enjoy this outdoor diversion. To see a photo of the tables, click here: https://www.concrete-classics.com/.
For the Bedford installation, the Trustees decided to purchase teak chairs (rather than the concrete stools as shown on the web site) to be compatible with the Library’s existing teak benches. The tables will be wheelchair accessible. As Trustee Lynne O’Connor noted, “we want to make the outside of the Library as inviting as the inside.”
Director Callaghan reported that the Library is gearing up for a busy summer season.
Bublemania! – Children’s Summer Reading Program
Carol Bender, Children’s Librarian, and Nancy Tegeler, Assistant Children’s Librarian, have a slate of programs beginning with Bubblemania! on June 24, with shows at 4 pm and 7 pm. Bender and Tegeler will be visiting schools to promote the program and, in addition, have recorded a video for YouTube about the Children’s Room and the summer reading program. Watch it with your children at: https://bit.ly/14zmIkZ.
As in past years, the Friends of the Library are staunch supporters of the summer programs. Children in the reading program will use Bingo cards to mark their progress and will receive books from the Friends for their reading accomplishments. Sign-up for the summer programs begins on Friday, June 21, the first day of summer. The Friends have also approved funding for an adult summer reading program, with a schedule of weekly prizes that will be rolled out next month.
Community Art Space
And there is something new in the Library art world: in addition to the regular gallery, there is now a “community art space” on the wall across from the Children’s Room, currently displaying the photography of Bedford teenager Rebecca Brill-Weitz. The Arts Steering Committee established the space in response to requests from artists who wished to exhibit but for various reasons did not have enough work to fill the regular gallery. The Committee decided to provide an area where these artists can exhibit their work. Rebecca Brill-Weitz, whose work will be on display through the summer, is a home-schooled high school senior. She writes that she is interested in film and digital photography. Most of her photographs are either landscapes or close-ups of nature, digitally enhanced. Look for her exhibit when next you visit the Library.
The regular gallery is now showing the photography of Andrea Kemler, through July 2. A reception to meet the artist will take place in the Library’s lobby on Friday, June 21, from 5 to 6 pm.
As local artists know, there is keen competition for exhibit space in the gallery, which is now booked about a year out, according to Callaghan. Artists interested in presenting their work will find gallery exhibit guidelines on the Library web site: https://bit.ly/196MLRI.
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