A Bit of History from Toni Eubanks, Barton Library Director

Dear Poets, 

Toni Eubanks at left, first in-person meeting
of summer 2021, in what became a
Giving Garden behind Barton Public Library

In the summer of 2013, the Barton Public Library received the grant from the Vermont Humanities Council to read, discuss and have workshops based around the Vermont Reads book Poetry 180 edited by Billy Collins. 

We asked Sylvia Manning and Adrien Helm if they would volunteer to facilitate the discussion and to start a poetry workshop for the grant. The group met at 6:30 PM downstairs in the library meeting room once a week all summer long. As I was working upstairs, I could hear such laughter and enthusiasm for each poet’s work as they were being read aloud. One night a summer thunderstorm came rolling through and we lost our electricity for about 30 seconds. The laughter that came from downstairs as these creative poets quickly ad-libbed about their shock at being in the dark, still makes me laugh at the fun and enthusiasm in the group dynamics.

At the end of that summer, the group decided they wanted to stay together and keep their workshop going beyond the grant parameters. This is when the Wednesday Poets had their start. Sylvia started a blog for the poets to display their work and feature different poets each week.

Every summer, Adrien and Sylvia would return to Vermont and volunteer their time to facilitate the Wednesday Poets. We moved the group upstairs for more accessibility and the group continued to meet at 6:30 PM while the library was closed. The group went to different events together, - a reading at St. Johnsbury Academy, reading from our own poets at other academic facilities, and a special event in which each of our poets shared their writing at the Green Mountain Monastery. Sylvia and I took a trip to the Vermont Humanities Council in Montpelier and told them about our group at the library. The president of the council was so happy to hear that a group formed and had stayed together beyond the grant. This is what the grant was made for – to build community.  Adrien and Sylvia had certainly done that through our library.

Three years ago, the group wanted to keep writing together even through the winter. We decided because of our harsh winters here in the Northeast Kingdom to move the time slot just for the winter months. We wanted the group to be able to travel when the snow plows were still out and decided 3:00 – 5:00 PM would be the safest time. We also had the group meet upstairs even though we were open for patrons during this time slot. The population of our area is much less during the winter, and therefore the library was able to accommodate our poets upstairs while being open. We are not considered a “quiet” library as being so rural, our library is considered a place to come in, see others and chat in a safe and welcoming environment. We have coffee and snacks that are donated from the community members to help keep that warm and friendly atmosphere. We are very thankful to Judith and Joanne for guiding the winter group.

In March of 2020, the State of Vermont set emergency orders and all libraries in Vermont had to shut down for the pandemic. The state allowed us to open for curbside services only in May, and then allowed for libraries to open for in person with limits in June of last year. We were so thankful to Joanne Giannino for starting the Zoom for the Wednesday Poets which allowed for the continuation of the workshops. It is my understanding that because of the Zoom option, more people were able to join the group because distance no longer was an issue and our group has grown and warmly welcomed poets from other states and even across the border.

Adrien approached the library recently to let us know that some members of the group would like to meet in person again. As helpful as Zoom has been, it is not the same as being together in the same room. A lot of people who used to attend do not use the Zoom access. The library’s board of trustees met on Monday night to allow for this program to meet in person again in the library. We are slowly opening up by expanding our hours, and the poetry group will be the first indoor program to meet at the library since the pandemic started. Now we are inviting the group back in person to the summer schedule which will be Wednesdays at 6:00 – 8:00 PM. People can Zoom into that meeting if they would like. Since the library closes at 6:00 PM on Wednesdays, this is the perfect time for the summer group to meet as it always has in the past. In the summer, we have many children and families visiting the library during our open hours. The population in our area grows during the summer and so does the population visiting the library. Evening hours allow for people that may be working to attend also. We realize that summer in VT is a busy time. We find that people are enjoying the outdoor activities this area has to offer, working in their gardens, or visiting our many lakes during the day. We hope this new schedule will work for you for the summer.

We especially want to thank Adrien, Sylvia, Joanne and Judith for keeping the program going all of these years. I look forward to seeing many of you in the library again. 

Toni Eubanks

Barton Public Library, Director

The Barton Public Library in Barton, Vermont