This weekend, my family and I went to the Nashua Library. I love libraries. They are an amazing resource for the community and provide so much to everyone. As a homeowner/citizen/resident of Nashua, I am so proud of our library. And it’s open regardless if we use it, so go and use it. Here are a list of my favorite resources of the Nashua Public Library.
The Children’s Room
I should’ve taken a picture while we were there, but its weird to take a picture where kids are, and there were a decent amount of kids there. The children’s room is HUGE. There are books (of course), but they also have a train table, a dress up area, and a whole bookcase of building blocks. They have magnet toys, and a coloring table, and a cuddle corner that has toys for kids under 2ish. They also have a maker area for tweens with crafts and fidgets.
The librarians have story time almost every day. Its a mix of listening stories, interactive stories, music, and movement. It’s incredible. When I don’t know what to do, we go to story time.
They also host a lot of programing. They’ve had Bluey Day, a Taylor Swift party, escape rooms, no-cook meals, and tons of other things. There is always something going on. I try to highlight a lot of it in the calendar so it’s easy to find.
The Theater
Speaking of the programing, I love the theater at the library. We just saw Finding Nemo there. The Children’s librarians hosted an interactive moving screening. I thought it was going to be a sensory friendly showing where we could just yell along with the movie, but it was an INTERACTIVE movie, with a script. Things like blowing bubbles when we say bubbles, and eating goldfish when we saw the school of fish. It was a ton of fun. The theater was cold, which was so nice on a hot day.
The theater also hosts Sunday Classic movies and recent releases on Tuesdays.
Outside
The city and library and going to be redoing the outside of the library, but I do love the park space they have, as dysfunctional as it is. I love seeing the stage out there for local concerts and events. My favorite though? Between the library and the parking lot, you can walk down and see the river and the dam. I love watching the river and listening to the water. They’ve cleared it out so its more accessible, but as a kid, it always felt so magical and special. Check it out sometime.
Online Library
I feel bad, because the part of the library I use most frequently isn’t part of the building at all, but their online services. Overdrive/Libby are an online/kindle library. Overdrive is the desktop version and Libby is the app. The also have audiobooks, which is great for roadtrips! The Library also has kanopy for shows and movies, and Tumblebooks for kids books.
I’ve also been using Universal Class to keep busy. They’re asynchronous classes in a variety of subjects. I’m taking a couple classes now, one on SEO (maybe I’ll improve?), another on parenting, and a 3rd on organizing your house. They’re free, so might as well, right?
Museum Passes
I’ll be going in depth about my favorite museum passes, but the library does have free/discounted museum passes. They’re purchased by the Friends of the Nashua Library, and I do suggest that if you love the library the way I do, and the book sale (kids books for $1? Yes, please) please support the Friends. It’s $30 for a family, and it helps purchase more passes, and you get special admission to the book sale in March. I like to go around 6, after the crowd is gone, and its one of the places we have an “unlimited” budget (because the budget is more like how much can you carry).
I say all of this because there are a lot of people who put a ton of time and effort into our library. It’s open and paid for, regardless if you, yourself use it, so might as well go. Maybe you’ll find an air conditioned theater with a movie on, or a train set that your kid desperately wants, but you have no room for. The
Nashua Library is a magical place and you should check it out.
