By Stephanie Skinner

December 2025

The slow lead up to winter in Otis has been an extended time of uncertainty. We had weather reports saying snow was on the way and then we got rain and warm days. In early November it was nearly 50 degrees and three deer were contentedly grazing in the yard. Yay, we dodged another winter blast! However, it may not have been freezing hard yet, but we knew it was coming. This is mother nature's way of saying, Look, it's gonna get cold and you aren't prepared for it … this is your last warning. I love you but you are idiots who keep thinking you can outrun me. You can't.

So here we are. Uncertainty, yielding to reality in December. And just like the weather, the new Library building project was mired in uncertainty for a while. But after the town voted in October to reaffirm its commitment to the Design and Planning process, first voted in at the May 2024 Town Meeting, the architects could finally move forward to put design to paper, or rather to software. The site for the new library, which has drawn a range of strong opinions, has been settled on: West Center Road.

Two open meetings have been held to present high level design concepts and one has been chosen for further development. The plan has to be completed by the end of the year so that it can be handed to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to assert their commitment to the building grant of 75% of eligible costs. Now is the time to make suggestions on the design concepts so that we can be prepared for when things really get real!

December is also a time when we are scaling back a bit on our many popular library programs, and digging into more calming programming. In addition to our new Community of Light guided meditation, we are adding an Afternoon with a Therapy Dog. Can’t we all use a little extra personal care now in this “silly season,” as Martin Riggs so aptly named the period from Thanksgiving through New Year’s in the original Lethal Weapon movie? Also, back by popular demand, we are having a cookie swap on December 19th. Bake some cookies, come to the library, and swap them out for a wide variety of treats made by your neighbors. Depart with a selection you can secretly wolf down on your own, or take them to parties, or leave them out for your visitors.

December is also a great time to find a new series of books or movies to get you through those winter nights that seem to start at 4 pm. We have suggestions! We have a new Book Bingo starting in January, and we will also be kicking off a Movie Bingo. These Bingos are great ways to gently shake you out of your well-beaten genre path. Always read fiction? Try a biography! You might be surprised how much you enjoy a well-crafted life story. Stuck on mysteries? We have drama and self-help, historical fiction, and romance. Fantasy not your jam? How about some true crime or satire. After all, libraries contain the work of millions all for you, for free.

Every week we add new books and movies. Stop by and tell us what you hope we’ll have. And don’t forget the museum and venue passes we have, too. Sure, it’s good to hibernate, but sometimes you want to emerge and get some “culture!”

We may not be mother nature but we are the next best thing: the work of man, the best of man, your portal to the immortal mind of every man. And remember, if we don’t have what you are looking for, we’ll get it for you, because we also love you, our patrons!

The Season Turns the Page