Knitting in Libraries: a Professor's Quest to Visit Every Library in Vermont
Miller will be speaking at UVM on Feb. 26
By Cathy Ryan, The Record Staff
Dr. Hannah K. Miller, an Associate Professor of Education at Vermont State University Johnson, is on a quest to knit in every public (and academic) library in Vermont. Miller began this project when they took a sabbatical in January 2024. They write a short essay about each visit, which you can read on their website. Miller explains, “The posts are partially ethnographic (I write about what I learn about the library’s culture and community from one visit) and partially autobiographic (I write about what the library makes me feel and think about during the stop). My hand-knitted emotional support chicken, Hen Solo, accompanies me to each library.”
The idea for this project was spawned in spring of 2023, when Vermont State University announced they would be going to “digital only” libraries. The university would lose most of its physical collection, and many library staff would be laid off. After saying they would not reverse course, VSU officials reversed course and the libraries were saved.
Miller says that they “learned a lot about the role of libraries in a community during that time, and it made me want to spend more time in public libraries.”
Miller visited Hinesburg’s Carpenter-Carse Library in March 2024, and wrote an article about the visit which you can read here.
Miller will be speaking at UVM on Feb. 26 from 4:30-6 p.m. in Stafford Hall 101. The title of the talk is Vermont libraries resist: What my quest to knit in every public library in Vermont has taught me about how libraries are upholding democracy, community, and civil rights. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the event page.