Kellogg-Hubbard Library, VT

The Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Vermont, was dedicated on January 2, 1896. The Classical Revival style building is built of light-colored granite from Dummerston, Vermont. The library is named for Martin M. Kellogg, a New York real estate baron who was born in Barre, Vermont, and his wife Fanny M. Hubbard Kellogg, a Montpelier native. The couple willed their money to build the library. Fanny's nephew John E. Hubbard at first contested the will, but in the end contributed $30,000 more toward the library than the will provided. The Kellogg-Hubbard Library continues as a vibrant center in Montpelier.

Early Morning Writing

Early morning from my east facing window.

The crow calling just outside my window woke me enough to notice how light it was. Must be a least 7. No, only 5:18 a.m. Too early to be up with a long day ahead of me. But as I lay in the guest bed, the quiet was energizing.

I'm staying on top a mountain near East Calais, Vermont, and the beauty of sound and sight and fragrance is balm to my soul. There is no hum of the highway half a mile away; no jarring sirens of emergency vehicles responding to the needs of the one million people living in a single county; no ridiculously heavy footsteps of the family in the apartment above me. Instead, I listen to the calls of birds I can identify (killdeer, crow, robin, some kind of owl) and the songs of those I don't yet know. This quiet is like a drink of cool water on a warm day.

I am inspired to write, energized to do so now. Being in Vermont, I can't help but think of poet Robert Frost. He worked the land, knew the people, and recorded them in verse that grasps their vitality and reality. I feel a kinship to him in shared loves. I am writing in Vermont.

Author 411

Sponsored by Random House Children's Books, Author 411 connects youth, literature, and authors. Four teen book groups are chosen per month to read a selected work (or works) of that month's featured author. Later in the month, the teens meet with that author online to discuss the book(s).

I first learned of this program from the Rockingham Free Public Library and Museum in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Rockingham's youth services librarian had applied for her teen readers to participate, and they were chosen for the June 2008 feature with author Michael Scott.

The teens are reading Scott's soon-to-be released The Alchemist, book one in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series; followed by The Magician, book two, to be released June 24. After reading both books, the teens will meet to prepare questions for their later online meeting with Scott.

Previous authors featured in Author 411 include Jerry Spinelli, Louis Sachar, and Linda Newbery. Transcripts of previous author - teen discussions are available at Author 411.

Author Michael Scott, popular in his native Ireland, is considered an authority on mythology and folklore. His new book The Magician, will be released on June 24, 2008.

A special thank you to my friends at Rockingham for the introduction to this program and resource.