What to do with the white chairs?

 

3/14/2025

If the library staff didn’t already know the weather is lovely, the sounds of children playing at Playmore Park would clue us in. There is so much joy being experienced this week, I have to remind myself the school district isn’t on Spring Break. Knowing they aren’t, I’m sending my thoughts to the teachers who have to keep students engaged for the next four weeks.

Here at the library we can dust off our outdoor Library of Things items instead and offer them up. It’s a great time to checkout the telescope. The weather is lovely, the stars are relatively close, it still gets dark fairly early, and there are no mosquitoes to battle. Of course, last week before the whole-time change would have been better, but then the weather was less cooperative. That’s Wisconsin for you and proof we can’t have both.

Looking for excuses to be outside, I brought a stack of the white chairs from our lower level out to be disassembled and recycled. The seat and back are plastic, but the frames are some form of metal. Looking a them in the sun, it seemed a shame to do so. They are less sturdy than I would like and fewer than we need, but tightening the screws on the frame and replacing missing screws on the back made them serviceable for someone.

Therefore, I held off. The stack is still just outside the library for all to see. I’m wondering if there is any organization who could find a use for some or all of them. We have about 35 left. They do have all their parts and are tightened. The distinction among them now is regarding the whiteness of the plastic seats. Some are more so than others which are showing their wear more.

They do stack for storage. We kept the stacking down to 4-5 as unlike heavy restaurant chairs, the stacks tend to lean. Plus, I was always worried a little one would try to climb on top of one of the stacks. A few years ago, we could line the stacks up against the wall. Now we have bookshelves where they used to go. Our new chairs are a navy blue that matches the couches and chairs in that space. They also fold and fit somewhat on a cart in the side storage room making them much easier to store and free up floor space.

I’ll give word of mouth a few weeks to work its way through the community and find a group/groups interested in a few or all of them before finding a means of disposing of them. Anyone interested should call or stop by and take a look at the stack outside available for trying out.

Reading Now: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Book Club already met, but it's worth finishing.)

Listening to Now: Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne