The 2016 Holiday Local/Focus display in the Tremont Street window of the South End library has for its theme, Making Tracks to the Library. It's another brainchild of FOSEL board member Karen Watson, who was inspired by a playful set-up of painted car tires she saw somewhere else. Barry Steinberg, of Direct Tire, graciously selected five old wheels for the project. Volunteers Liane Crawford and Maura Flaherty painted them. Thrift store finds and greens cut from backyards and fields were combined with holiday craft and culinary books from the library's collection. Gently used bows from other lives were dusted off and refashioned onto the refurbished tires.

 The Friends of the South End Library (FOSEL) has used the library's grand windows on Tremont Street to connect local artists, creative entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations to the South End branch. Since the beginning of 2016, the windows have  featured a range of displays reflecting the rich and varied residents and institutions in the neighborhood. They including exhibits by local wire sculptor, Will Corcoran; cheerful children's dresses inspired by nursery rhymes, hung by Caroline Leed, owner of the South End on-line enterprise Smiling Buttons; a show of bird nests by the Boston Nature Center's Mattapan bird sanctuary combined with artistic bird nests created by the children enrolled in the USES Children's Art Centre on Rutland Street; and featuring as well a talk by local birding celebrity, Ray Brown, the talk show host of Talkin' Birds in an evening talk about bird migration.,

Earlier this year, the windows featured an installation about Michelle Laboy and Joshua Fiedler's award-winning LightWells now on display in Library Park, explaining the role they play in sustainable groundwater efforts. We also showcased a powerful photography exhibit of poet portraits by Greg Jundanian that was accompanied by a poetry slam event with standing-room-only crowd.

Finally, an exhibit artists' ideas based on the form of the book: ceramic book covers and books by Cambridge artist Lori Pease; folded book art by New Hampshire librarian Veronica Mueller; and, in November, a Thanksgiving window display by FOSEL board members.

If you know of someone who'd like to used the windows for a display of interest to the South End community, please contact head librarian, Anne Smart, at asmart@bpl.org or 617 536-8241.

If you know of someone who'd like to used the windows for a display of interest to the South End community, please contact head librarian, Anne Smart, at asmart@bpl.org or 617 536-8241.