LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 32 While in the library, visitors can keep their eyes peeled for an original framed poster, promoting a fund-raising (25 cents per person) Garden Party on August 29,1894, complete with a brass band, dinner and refreshments. For 15 cents, people could travel by steamboat from Lake George village to Dunham's Bay. The steamboat company also gave excursions on the lake throughout the day and Dunham's Bay residents rented rowboats, with proceeds from both sources going to the library. In similar fashion, the Friends are hosting a Garden Party this summer from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 12 at the library. Refreshments will be served and raffle tickets handed out for a chance to win free books for adults and children. "Donations are welcome, but it's not a fundraiser," Long said. "It's us saying thank you to the community." If you can't find what you're looking for at the Mountainside Library, Pam Wilcox's Little Free Library in the Woods, a few minutes away at 1388 Bay Road, is something akin to a literary enchanted forest with hundreds of children's and adult books to choose from in a cozy, outdoor setting. They're housed in six beautifully decorated, pole-mounted Little Free Libraries that she built last year with help from her husband, Donald, and sons Stephen Hitchcock and Alex Wilcox. Pam has spent countless hours landscaping a place for people to restore body, mind, and spirit, a place where they can take whatever they want at no charge and without worry of overdue renewal fees. Anyone driving up the busy highway can't help taking notice and hitting the brakes to investigate and see what she's done. "It's fun meeting people," she said. "They come here from all over the place on vacation, and I get to see neighbors and friends I wouldn't have seen otherwise." Wilcox had a two-fold motivation for developing the project – an enduring love for children and a childhood reading problem of her own. "Basically, I wasn't a read- er as a little kid because my eyes focused on different words," she said. "I got all the way through school with it. I just passed through. I didn't want my kids to be like that. They were reading at age 3. They're phenom- enal readers. My oldest son is a walking encyclopedia." Kiosks that house books are pastel colored, adorned with fanciful decals of birds, flowers and wildlife. Two are specifically for children, one is for teens and three more are for adults. Each box is like a treasure chest. You never know what might be inside. "I like reading with my four grandkids," Wilcox said. "I have a personal library of all children's books. In win- ter I'd like to open it up to whoever comes here." Previously, the Wilcoxes lived in Lake George village where she owned Sweet Cravings Bakery & Café and ran after-school programs for young people, with a special empathy for those in need of extra attention. But the pressures of running a small business quite often left her overworked with far too much stress. Top left: Lake George residents and visitors were invited to an 1894 Garden Party that raised funds for newly formed Mountain- side Librar y. Bottom left: Shelves at Mountainside Librar y are well stocked with fiction and non-fiction books. Above and opposite: Pam Wilcox's Little Free Librar y in the Woods has six kiosks filled with books for children, teens and adults.

• Cover