I can still remember vividly when I got my first library card at the library at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana. I was about 9 or 10 I think and could ride my bike there on my own. I have never lost my wonder and excitement about libraries, which eventually led to the time I spent in the stacks at George Mason University’s campus library and libraries also available to me in the Washington, DC, area, like the big national library downtown.
My local library here is the Wando Mt. Pleasant Public Library. It is less than 10 minutes from my house–depending on how many red lights one encounters. It is very near Wando High School, which makes sense. Wando is a big name here–for one of the three BIG rivers that reach the coast around Charleston: the Wando, the Cooper, and the Ashley.
I visited the library one day this past week to get some new “pleasure” books to read. I read nonfiction all the time, but mostly online now. I also wanted to check out this local library more thoroughly than I had before now. The local library can tell you a lot about one’s community.
There is a kiosk in the front of the library where you can pay $1 for any books there you want to buy. There are always good books on that kiosk. Basically, I “rent” some books so I don’t have the pressure of reading them in a hurry. When I’m done with these books, I’ll return them to the library. These days, I read at my noon dinner and afterwards with my espresso coffee–as I hand-sew at night, often until quite late, while watching something on tv.
From the outside, the building is low and not impressive, with lots of parking. Inside, the spaces are filled with light, color, and exciting places to investigate, especially for young children. There are so many windows, each with a nice view. *Note: I can’t have (library policy) and don’t want people in any of my pictures, so I cropped the pictures I took to take out people. A person’s right to privacy is a cherished issue for me.
Here, in the children’s section, there are wonderful nooks that invite exploration. On a weekday morning, I was surprised by how many parents, including lots of dads, and how many children were in the library. This nook has some entrances that are low to the floor, which must surely call to a child. The “balloons” rise to the sky, which is very high in this alcove.
There were LOTS of cushioned reading places in front of windows–and only this one was not occupied by a parent reading to a child.
The inside of the children’s section has two very long swirling, serpentine shelves of books, each topped with books that, hopefully, draw a busy child’s attention. And note the little table nestled into one of the curves.
The ceiling is high and industrial which gives the library a sense of space and light. Note the meeting room in the far right corner. There are lots of these meeting rooms scattered across the library, some big, some small.
There are banks of computers everywhere in the library–two banks here, but I cropped one bank out of the picture as children were seated there.
The juvenile/young adult section is more traditional, but here, too, there is color and whimsy and a beautiful view.
And look what I found as I wandered the halls and passed meeting rooms: a whole room of sewing machines that one can use!!! And there was a woman using one.
The adult section, which one encounters upon entering the library, is also quite large. And I returned to it to look more closely at the kiosk where I could buy some books.
I came home with three books that I am looking forward to reading. And as I said above, after I am done, I will return them to the library so someone else can “buy” them to read.
It is slowly getting cooler, so I am, again, thinking of walking the beach. And, maybe, swimming again, too. But today I need to make a run to Costco and to return a split hose extension to Loews.
Yesterday I used the air fryer to cook chicken, some corn on the cob, and a broccoli/carrot mixture–so I have food for today, which makes it a “free” day for me.
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