Bigelow Library added a GRIT Freedom Chair to its Library of Unexpected Items.
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CLINTON — The Bigelow Fee Public Library was recently awarded one of the AARP’s Livable Communities grants. With this grant, the library was able to purchase a GRIT Freedom Chair to add to its circulating collection of the Library of Unexpected Items (LoUI).
The Freedom Chair is available to adult patrons with a valid CWMARS library card, who must pick up and return the chair to the Bigelow Free Public Library. This off-road wheelchair can be disassembled at the library, stored in a car, then reassembled at the off-road site.
Library staff and Friends recently tested the chair at Clinton’s Rauscher Farm. The chair can be maneuvered by its occupant using levers or patrons can borrow additional push bars for another person to push from behind.
“I can see someone riding this chair down this trail,” said Ray Stowell, a member of the Rauscher Farm Subcommittee, who tried out the chair. “It opens up many possibilities.”
The Freedom Chair can be borrowed for up to two weeks with a valid library card. It can be used to explore the trails around Clinton, as well as Mass Audubon or Trustees of Reservation properties. Discount passes for these areas can also be borrowed with a valid library card.
For more information about the GRIT Freedom Chair or to borrow any of the LoUI collection, you can call (978) 365-4160, visit at 54 Walnut St., Clinton, or view the collection online at www.bigelowlibary.org. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.