What did you do this weekend? Play a game? Try a new restaurant? See the latest blockbuster at the movies?
Me? I met a library tortoise.
On a friend’s recommendation, M and I headed to the Leach Library in Londonderry, N.H. It’s a charming spot to wile away an hour or two browsing the bookshelves or reading in a comfortable chair. Every work table comes with a hub so your devices can charge while you toil. There’s a private room for those who wish to write or study in silence. The library also offers a seed catalog for gardeners and a “library of things” for everyone else.
After wandering through the stacks — and yes, checking out a book — I did something I almost never do. I visited the children’s department. Like all of my favorite libraries, this one has a children’s section that’s separated from the main area, thus allowing those who are wee to run around and squeal to their heart’s content. But this children’s area features something I’d never seen before.
Oscar is a Hermann’s tortoise and he’s around 11 years old. He joined the library last year and lives in a warmed terrarium that’s covered in cool tortoise-y facts. Did you know that all tortoises are turtles but not all turtles are tortoises? Or that a group of tortoises is called a “creep”?
Oscar also had a hard shell, and when you touch it, he can apparently feel it (sort of like when someone touches your fingernail). The librarian was kind enough to give me the opportunity to scratch his back, which I wholeheartedly took advantage of. He was so adorable — and I am definitely going back to see him again soon.
