The Vermont Authors Project's Lending Library is a free book program designed to highlight the state's rich literary resources and encourage tourism across various regions.
The Lending Library summertime pilot program saw more than 1,200 books distributed. Continuing this fall and winter tourism season, the program also promotes the state's “hidden treasures,” by encouraging discovery of lesser-known locations described in books.
This marks the first-ever statewide Lending Library at seven Visitors Centers statewide: Alburgh, Fair Haven, Guilford, Montpelier, White River Junction, and Williston north and southbound. The project currently features the works of New York Times bestselling mystery writer Archer Mayor, author of 23 Vermont-based Joe Gunther detective mysteries, and the works of Castle Freeman, author and Vermont Life magazine writer.
“The literary world has often used Vermont as the backdrop of stories as well as a location for creative inspiration,” Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing Commissioner Megan Smith said. “To offer this cultural and aesthetic wealth to tourists is highly innovative and, in library terms, much overdue.”
Travelers can visit one of the participating Vermont Information and Welcome Centers and sign out a paperback or audio book free of charge. When finished, the borrower returns the book to any Vermont Welcome Center or by mail in an envelope provided, within one month.
This honor system of book lending is made possible through the Department of Buildings and General Services, the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, the Vermont Librarian's Association, and AMPress Publishing.
Vermont's Information and Welcome Centers serve an estimated 9,000 people daily and more than 3 million visitors annually. In a state intentionally absent of billboards, these centers promote the state by providing information to visitors.
Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series has been described by the Chicago Tribune as “The best police procedurals being written in America.” Mayor is a recipient of the New England Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction.
In addition, Mayor is a death investigator for Vermont's chief medical examiner, a deputy sheriff for Windham County, an investigator for the Windham County State's Attorney's office, and has logged 25 years as a volunteer firefighter/EMT.
Over the 23-book series, his fictional Vermont Bureau of Investigations' Detective Joe Gunther has solved crimes across every corner of Vermont. Mayor's next book, Paradise City, will be in stores this month.
Castle Freeman has written four novels: Judgment Hill, My Life and Adventures, Go With Me, and All that I Have. He has also published more than 30 short stories, and nearly 100 essays, historical, and journalistic pieces, most related to Vermont in the present day. Since 2009, he has written the “Vermont Observed” column in Vermont Life. His new story collection is Round Mountain.
The Vermont Authors Project Lending Library program seeks Vermont authors to participate. Writers who live in Vermont and write about Vermont are eligible to join this program. They must contribute books or CDs to the lending library program. Contact the Vermont Authors Project Coordinator Margot Zalkind at [email protected].