It’s finally happened! A brand new bench was just installed in front of the OB Library.
The Friends of the OB Library are the responsible group for this venture into making our public facility a better place to be. What’s a library without a bench in front?
With a grant from the OB Town Council and through their own fundraising, the Friends were able to purchase the metal outdoor furniture. This is a great tribute to the community by one of the most wonderful band of local OB lovers.
There is a little background story that involves yours truly.
If you recall, this very positive addition to the front of the library stemmed from a negative incident that occurred to me ten months ago while I was sitting on the grass in front of the library. After an official apology from the regional librarian, I approached the Friends of the OB branch and raised the idea of a bench – in an effort to make lemonade out of lemons, to turn a negative thing into a positive one, dialectically.
They accepted the challenge wholeheartedly and today we have a bench. Now both library patrons and tired passersby can take a break – and not have to sit on the grass and risk being asked to move.
The Friends will also be installing a plaque and will be having an official ribbon-cutting on their own some time in the near future. Until then, enjoy the bench.
YES!!!!! A bench. Thank you…
Now if OBMA and the city could follow suit and add benches on Newport for the living to have a place to sit that would be great. If $1Mil can be spend on a memorial wall, surely benches can be added for shoppers, visitors, elderly etc.
More benches in OB :-)
Right on!
Oooh, I second that wholeheartedly Debbie!!
Cool!
Thanks for a great article and for bringing this need to our attention.
In the background of the photo, it looks like some homeless person has locked their shopping cart to one of the bike racks. Oh Doctor! Frank, is that your cart?
Years ago the library had a secret garden out back for adult readers. Us kids could only get a glimpse of it through a tiny window. The secret reading garden was replaced by a parking lot. The loss of the garden was never mitigated. We could balance the scales with a reading deck or garden in the front of the library.
Larry, nope. But the hope is that at some point the new and improved OB library will get back on track.