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| Paso Robles Library, Photo © B. Radisavljevic |
This is the view of the entrance from the parking lot. To the left of the building is the conference room where meetings are held, including City Council Meetings. The library occupies the entire first floor. The City Hall occupies the entire second floor. The oak tree shades the benches where people often sit to read or rest outside. You can see that it's taller than the two story building, and also very wide.
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| Part of Library Gift Shop in hallway. Photo © B. Radisavljevic |
When you enter the library from this direction, almost the first thing you see to the left are the restrooms and the hallway that houses the outside part of the gift shop. The gift shop is run by the Friends of the Library and features new merchandise, much of it educational and appealing to children and young people. The part you see on the carts in the hallways are magazines, used books and library discards being sold at thrift store prices. They are wheeled out each day when the store opens, and taken in each evening when the store closes.
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| Children's Department of Paso Robles Library. Photo © B. Radisavljevic |
Today I went into the children's department, and it's quite large. I wanted to show you this view of it because of the little boy using the computer. The library has a separate computer room, but this young man was happily occupied here. Maybe it's only a catalog, but it seemed to keep him happier for longer than a catalog would. You can find him under the bulletin board in the middle of the room past the video case in the foreground.
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| Art Wall in Paso Robles Library. Photo © B. Radisavljevic |
The library often features displays of artwork on the wall beside the ramp that leads down to the reference room and adult stacks. The featured artist when I was there today was Sandra MacGillivray, someone whose work I had not seen before. She is from New Mexico, but lived for years in Paso Robles on a ranch that later became a vineyard. She studied under our local artists Nancy Becker and Rosey Rosenthal, and once was the director of the Sculptor Art Gallery in Paso Robles. After the death of her husband, she moved back to New Mexico, but is evidently back in Paso Robles for at least a visit.
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| Adult Stacks and Reference Department in Paso Robles Library. Photo © B. Radisavljevic |
Of course for many of us, the most important part of the library is its books. This is a view of the adult department looking down from the periodicals department. In the center front is the reference desk. On both sides of it you will find fiction. In the back you see the nonfiction stacks. Mysteries and science fiction are at the very back.
The bank of windows on the left appears as a large curved wall on the outside of the building. That's one of the reasons it's so hard to photograph that side from the outside. Those windows look out on City Park across the street.
Our library is very user friendly, although it appears the some of the tables and chairs where people used to sit and read (or sleep) have disappeared. Many of the homeless used to gather in that section. I'm wondering if there's a connection. It could also be that more bookcases are taking up the room the tables and large chairs used to.
How large is your public library? Is it an older or newer building. What does it have besides books? Does it sell any used books or magazines?
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| Part of Library Gift Shop in hallway. Photo © B. Radisavljevic |
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Barbara, I loved this post, because my first love was a library. I practically lived in ours in my hometown when I was a kid, and of course, there were no computers, but I read as long as I could stay each day. It's really nice that your library has expanded rather than shrunk in this time of electronics. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNancy, I also practically grew up in a library. I lived within walking distance and checked out the limit every day. After I graduated from high school, I applied for a job on a whim, and the librarian hired me to work behind the desk as a clerk. She knew that I knew my way around and loved the books. i was thrilled, because most people my age got hired to shelve books. i had wanted to become a librarian, but getting married when I did made that impossible.
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