Category: Memories

Hudson Carnegie District Library Programming Changes: Impact on Photography Group

Yesterday (9/5/24) evening (5:40ish PM), I arrived early at the Hudson Carnegie District Library to set up for our monthly Photography Group meeting. The desk clerk greeted me with a friendly smile and said, “Hello. I was told I have to give each of you a piece of paper at the end of the night.”

The front exterior of the Hudson Carnegie District Library, a historic stone building with a red-tiled roof and large arched windows. A flagpole with the American flag stands to the right, and the building is surrounded by green lawn, manicured bushes, and mature trees under a bright blue sky.

“Okay, is it something that’s important that we need to know?” I asked.

“I shouldn’t have said anything. I was told to give one to each of you when you leave.”

“Oh, okay. Tonight, we plan for our November open house. Will you be available tonight?”

“Oh, yeah,” she answered.

“We may have questions, like if there are enough ribbons, and we’ll ask about a judge for the photography contest. You guys have that information because the Judge is anonymous.”

“I’ll leave her (the Director) a note with all that information,” she said.

“Okay. If the letter has information that will affect our ability to have the open house here the first Thursday evening in November, we should be aware of it before we spend our whole meeting tonight planning for an open house that has no chance of happening.”

“I think I should give you the paper. Please don’t be mad at me; remember that I’m just a peon and following orders,” she said.

“Yup, I get that, thank you,” I said.

She disappeared to the back office for a few minutes while I set up the table with tabletop photo easels. When she returned, she placed a stack of paper on the table and walked away. I picked up the paper on top of the stack and read it…

“August, 2024

Per Library Board Request-

We will no longer be able to have after-hours programming in the Library after September 2024

We would love to schedule your program during our regular business hours, Mon-Sat

Library Hours:

Monday 11-5

Tuesday 10-5

Wednesday 10-5

Thursday 10-5

Friday 10-4

Saturday 10-1

Thank you

Hudson Carnegie District Library Staff & Board”

When I finished reading the breakup letter, I remembered talking with the Library Director last Tuesday (August 27, 2024). She told me that our group was safe because the staff had a meeting and decided to rotate between them so our monthly meetings would be covered. I also thought back 8 years to our first meeting. It was the first Thursday of November 2016. I was so scared that first night because I’d never run a photography group and had no clue what I was doing. I felt betrayed when I snapped back to standing in the Library last night with that letter, knowing I would have to let the group see this news.

After the group settled in for the meeting, we appreciated being informed beforehand, as it shifted the discussion from planning the Open House to where we could move our meetings. Since the Library offers no evening hours, and because of the two co-leaders’ work schedules, we can’t make it to the Library early enough to lead a two-hour photography class.

Embracing a New Approach: Choosing a Word of the Year for Personal Growth

A week and a day into the new year.
How are you doing with your resolution(s)?

I used to have a hard time keeping my ‘New Year, New Me’ promises—until five years ago when I gave up resolutions and replaced them with a word of the year—a simple theme to guide my year.

For example:
Curate.
1 select, organize, and look after items in a collection or exhibit.
2 select, organize, and present online content, information, etc., typically using professional or expert knowledge. Verb.
(google.com Oxford Languages)

This became my word of the year last year. I started with my home’s collection of stuff. My thought was, “If my house is the museum of my life, what do I want it to say about how I spent my life?” That made it easier to get rid of things that I didn’t like and things that didn’t speak to who I am. (This will be an ongoing project as my interests and life events change.)

This year, I’m focusing on part 2: actual writing, not reading, talking, wishing, or guilting about it. I want to write actual countable words and grow a collection of work.

What is your word of the year?