Pooh book by A.A. Milne, Pooh and Piglet set out on a very windy day to visit as many friends as they can within the Hundred Acre Wood to wish them a happy Thursday and perhaps get a “little smackerel of something.” Their friend Owl remarks, “…am I right in supposing that it is a very Blusterous day outside?” I have often been reminded of this story in the past few weeks as many people have commented on how windy it has been. Much like in the Winnie the Pooh story, trees have been knocked down by the wind, and people have been blown about too.

In the English language, we have the idiom “the winds of change”, which was coined by a UK Prime Minister in the middle of the last century. Wind is a description of moving air, so it denotes the perception of change around us. We use it for terms like windfall to describe a lucky encounter or an ill wind to mention a series of unwanted events. We speak of winds of fortune to describe the fickle nature of chance or windbags to describe people who talk with great volume or at length but without any real substance. Wind is ethereal because we can feel it and touch it but can’t grasp and hold it. Changes in temperature and pressure cause air to rise or fall while other air moves in to occupy the space left by the departing air. We can harness the power of wind and see its effects but not see it directly.

We instinctively notice change. Spot the difference. One of these things is not like the other. “Fi fie fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman.” When air isn’t moving, it can have a jarring effect on our senses. We think of things as being too still, hushed, or stifling. The calm before the storm is one way it has been put. We expect things to change because life lived in space and time is experienced as change. Paradoxically, we resist change. Change can be uncomfortable. Change often requires effort to either enact or adapt. Yet, we also have the phrase borrowed from a French proverb, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Libraries have changed tremendously in my lifetime – granted so have I! Yet I am still me, and libraries are still libraries. We continue to defend your freedom to read. We advocate for you to freely access the materials that interest you. We strive to provide our community with opportunities to engage the world, new ideas, and a love of lifelong learning. Library buildings change. Library staff change. Even our collection of materials and resources change – quite often actually. As spring winds blow through your yard and your life, we hope you take time to enjoy everything life has to offer you. We also hope you’ll take advantage of the changes we make at the library to better serve you and the community.

The library is located at 17 N. Broadway and is open to the public Monday-Thursday 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.