Picture This: Your Library

Since my thread is now home to 10+ photos of our various local libraries, it seems interest in the idea of sharing our spiritual homes with each other is real. So here's a thread where we can do that!

I'll go first: This is the village library where I live, Hempstead, New York:

I've already made a post on Richard's thread, but here it is again:



It's very tiny, essentially 1 room, and the slection isn't huge...but I love the place. :)

They recently expanded and practically doubled in size, but I can't find a picture of it with the recent addition.

I live in quite a small town, but the library is very good indeed:

This is our new(ish) public library in Binghamton:



Which replaced the building most dear to my heart in our entire world (which sadly, sits empty, sniff), the old Carnegie-built library:



And here is a photo of the library at Binghamton University, where I also spend a great deal of time and accrue quite a few fines:

I won't post a picture of my library, it's a tacky add-on to our local mall, but I still love visiting there. There is something magical about a building dedicated to books, reading and learning.

#1 Richard, your library looks exactly like a library should!

#2 Ape, your library is very attractive and eye-catching.

#3 - eji1955, I recognize that library! You obviously live in Sidney, B.C. I go to the Island to visit my family (grew up in Victoria) and have driven by the library in Sidney. I have always thought it a very pretty and inviting building.

I was looking for a picture of my library's new addition...I can't find one from the outside, but I found a picture from the inside.



It's hard to tell, but there is actually a lot of shelves all around the edges. The books on the left are the corner of the nonfiction section (DDC 700-900-ish), and the books you see to the right are the very tip of the fiction(I think those are the large print books you see in the picture.) Those "little rooms" on the sides actually go kind of far back (you can see by the ceiling over the nonfiction section) so it's nice. And it's HUGE compared to what it was before, in the first picture I posted. :) A very happy patron here!

Our favorite library is the Lakewood Library in Lakewood, CO.



But when we have time to go there, our special library is the Evergreen Library:



There's a sculpture at this library which could have been modeled after my daughters (or me):

Laughlin Memorial Library in Ambridge Pa. This is where I spent many hours each week as a child, and then with my own children. it is NOT the library in the town where I now live, but it is down the road in the next town.

I found these on Google, they were taken by James Orlowski in 2006.

The librarian for all of the years I mentioned and until just a few years ago was Mrs Alyce Grubbs. If you looked up librarian in the dictionary, her picture was there. Some did not like her... I thought she was wonderful. The faces, and thus the energy has changed, but this is still the most beautiful building I have ever been in, and I still love it. The story of this library used to be the books, But the story has changed. I have often said that to me, even bad stories can have wonderful endings. This is a wonderful story with an ending yet to come, but one that I fear will not measure up to the story.

Our little library - all 936 sq feet is in the original one room school house built in 1813. We have added heat (like a small space heater), light, computers, books, and removed the desks that used to be bolted into the floor - even had the bolt holes sanded down. The original slate 'blackboard' still hangs in the addition to the back (which houses the Historical Society) and we share a kitchen and indoor bathroom facility which is part of the new addition. I've got some other indoor pics but they're on another computer, and I'll have to grab them later.

love it tutu !

>4 allthesedarnbooks: and >5 DeltaQueen50:

I'm not in BC, but in a small town in upstate NY--actually about 30 or so miles from Binghamton. I'd really like to move elsewhere, but for now the library and the local farmers' market are the bright spots in this area.

tutu: amazing. I'd love to see it up close and personal!

Downtown Portland Oregon, the main branch of our county library:



It's an old building (not 1813 though!) and was renovated about 15 years ago. It's gorgeous inside.





It even has an ecoroof:



Here's my neighborhood branch, also fairly recently renovated:

Before we moved I could see our library from our porch! Now we don't go as much. :(
Burton Barr in Phoenix, Arizona:

I took the photo but copied this from their website:
Inspired by Monument Valley, the building's shape resembles a curving copper mesa split by a stainless steel canyon. Focusing on light and illusion, the design features shade sails on north windows fashioned by sail makers in Maine, an entrance tunnel with one back-lit wall and another of blue Venetian plaster with splashes of brightly colored Venetian plaster throughout the building.

The Crystal Canyon, a five-story atrium, has nine skylights at the top to track the sun. The glass-enclosed elevators and grand staircase are surrounded by a black bottom pool which mirrors their images and that of the Crystal Canyon.

A 32-foot high "Floating Ceiling" is suspended by cables over the Great Reading Room of 43,000 square feet on the fifth floor. Six-inch-wide skylights run the entire 300 foot length of the east and west walls. Round skylights covered by lenses create an illusion of flames at noon on the summer solstice, June 21st.

Here's a scrapbook page from a trip to the Flagstaff Public Library with my nephew. There's a beautiful mural in the children's section:

Ours was rebuilt nearly 10 years ago as part of a redevelopment project--before it was a one story, one room building built in the 50s. Only 4 blocks away, easy walking distance.

ronincats - where is this?

It is in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego.

#12 - Wow - I saw the Sidney name over the door, and it looks so much like the library there - I guess that'll teach me to jump to conclusions!!

Try that again-

The Portland Maine - main branch was just renovated and reopened in April



I was having scaling issues

Scaling issues? What are you, Spiderman? ;o) Well now it's really really tiny.

Jade - I saw all the hype about the Portland renovation, and have been meaning to take a day trip to see. I have a dental appointment later next month in 'the city' so maybe I can stop in then to see. Quite a difference from small town Maine, that's for sure.

Richard, what a great idea. I am really enjoying this thread.

>12 ejj1955:, Awesome! I didn't realize you were from the Sidney nearby... The library looks super cute and we're totally on the same library catalog! I believe I have had books come in from there. Like a lot of the local libraries, they seem to have a great selection for their size.

I would like to post my library - will someone please tell me how (and stop snickering).

27: There is an HTML guide here: Click me. It's near the bottom.

Basically, copy the pictures URL (right-click the image, click Properties, and you'll find the URL) and copy/paste it into this code:

~img src="PASTE URL HERE"~

Just replace the ~ symbol with the arrows shown on the wiki page I linked to you above.

Now, if the picture is really big, you need to resize it. You just add height/width tags in your code, so it looks like this:

~img src="PASTE URL HERE" width="200" height="85"~

So, for example, my image code looks like:

~img src="http://www.librarytechnology.org/photos-libraries/22815.jpg"~

And if I resized it:

~img src="http://www.librarytechnology.org/photos-libraries/22815.jpg" Width="170" Height="70~

Again, just remember to change the ~ symbols to arrows.

or, upload your image to Flickr or Photobucket and use the html code they provide you.. upload, copy & paste....

just an alternative...

29. I can't do that on a slow internert connection...takes forever to load those sites. :(

It only takes a few seconds to copy the URL and paste it into the code though. It looks complicated, but really, all you do is copy the URL, type "img src=" and then paste and you're done. :)

Entrance of our brandnew library in Lelystad:


inside:


and here Frank sits while he is waiting for me ;-)

wow~ very modern :)

Anita...your library has sex toys in the windows? They look like blow-up dolls! :-0

richard, richard, richard.........*shakes head *

Here's my library again:



Just a very comfortable place with lots of soft, comfy chairs to make yourself at home and the ability to get just about any book, audiobook, dvd, etc., either by request or on the spot.

Here's mine:

Oxford Public Library, Oxford PA

It is the oldest in Chester County and the third oldest in PA. It was established on August 3, 1784, by 28 members and an equal number of books, to "promise Knowledge and Literature in the Township of Oxford..." This building was completed in December, 1970.

I had to go hunting for the photo because the library's website is using this one, a rendering of hoped-for remodeling and expansion. Fundraising is currently in progress:

I already posted this on Richard's thread...but here it is again. My favourite library in Toronto, with special collections of YA and science fiction. Generally lovely inside and covered with gargoyles.

http://www.beaverlibraries.org/baden.htm
is the library in my town.. no pics I can snag.. it isn't letting me steal the one off their site.. and I am not in the mood to fight it..

gorgeous wisechild...!

> 32:
Yes, very modern and I like the use of bright colors.
For children and young adult books they have different colors for the different age groups.

> 33:
I am speechles....
Those are plastic dolls, window dummies, the library is in the shopping part of town :-)

edited to correct spelling

I already posted his on Richard's thread but here it is again. My local library

38: Here y'are, Kath:

37: Wisechild - finally a library with gargoyles! They are synonymous in my mind.

Los Angeles Central Library

ETA my sincere thanks to Ape and mckait (#28 and 29) for the how-to instructions. And a thank you to Richard for starting this thread. I love my library, but I also love to see other people's libraries and read how special their libraries are and how much the libraries mean and have meant to them. (BTW, the pix are from Photobucket.com.)

>21 teelgee: LOL teelgee, The pic is quite tiny, I was trying to guess at the right pixel number because it was ginormous in the prior post!

>22 tututhefirst: The "big" city is different from small town Maine. I just moved out of the city, but still use Portland's library system because it has a much better selection than the town I am in now. You should definitely try to stop in, the building is totally different than before.

Let me try posting it again & with a "before" picture:



Before:

THIS is the liberry I *like*, in Rockville Centre...it's closer than my "home" liberry, and the folks at the circ and ref desks are polite, helpful, and pleasant to deal with unlike my "home".

thank you Stephen :)

Calm... love it!

So many different looks....

What a great idea! Thanks Richard for creating this thread! Fingers crossed everyone while I see if I can get the images to load properly in this post - I took these pictures today while enjoying a walk through town.

While the original Carnegie built building no longer houses the public library where I live in Victoria, BC (and I believe it is currently vacant), it did operate as the public library from 1906 well into into the 1960's, when it was decided that a larger building was needed. I am a sucker for old bulildings and love to walk past this building while running errands downtown.





The central branch of the Greater Victoria public library system, 4 blocks from the Carnegie building above, is the branch I frequent the most for convenience (centrally located for me) as well as being the largest in our 10 branch system. Unfortunately, the central branch is shoehorned into an office complex where its entrance is off a covered courtyard that can be hard for first time patrons to find.



My local branch is housed in a newer building about the same distance from my home as the central branch - but in the opposite diection - and it is one I like to frequent when I want to browse the shelves for fiction, instead of surfing the online catalogue.

#45 I should mention that the L.A. Central Library was badly damaged in an arson fire about 25 years ago (in 1986). They were able to save 80% of the building and its contents, but, sadly, even so a lot of valuable books were destroyed. The building was reconstructed and brought up to code and reopened in 1993.(http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/860429_CentralLibraryFire/042986_CentralLibrary.htm) Here's a picture of the damage from L.A.P.L.'s collection:

Gorgeous libraries everyone. I envy all of you with the beautiful old buildings.

OK - my local library and the Denver library. I love the Denver library.

Thank you very much to #28 and #29. Between the two of you I was able to figure it out. I used the link to the WikiThing and flickr. Hooray! I just kind of have a mental block with html code. Mostly I don't care and I don't want to know, until I need it for something. Like some kind of stereotype of a helpless female, I just wave my hands around and ask for help. It's working well for me so far. Just to offset the previous image, I can identify roadkill by the merest speck of useful information and I can change my own tires.

LOLOL @ nittnut....

you are the woman!!!!

52: *puts hands on hips, and foot on boulder, with the wind blowing his unbuttoned shirt behind him and feathering his luxurious hair, imitating a cover model for a romance novel*

Happy to help, madam!

*falls on face in a plume of dust after the boulder rolls from under his foot*

D'oh!!

>52 nittnut:, 53, 54 - OMG, thanks for the laughs this morning!

lolol

Main entrance at my local central branch (courtesy of Wikipedia):

Many of the libraries are so lovely and impressive that I went hunting in my past for these memories of college:



Pattee Library at Penn State; when I was a student, the mall leading up to the library was lined on both sides of both walks with elm trees, since lost to disease.



The undergraduate library at UCLA; I spent more time at this less lovely spot:



the University Research Library.

Good idea, ejj1955! I have very fond memories of my library from UC San Diego:



We were told that this unusual-looking building has been used in movies, so if you've seen Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (and who hasn't, really ;) then you may remember it...

edited to add: When I attended UCSD it was known as the Central Library. Since that time it has been re-named The Geisel Library in honor of Audrey and Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for their contributions to and support of the library.

>59 AMQS: That is so freaking cool! Why are UCLA's libraries so boring?

This is no longer my local library, but it is the one I used most (outside school) when I was growing up - it had a fantastic children's section:



...and, I just had to put in photos of the "Black Diamond" (lhs, the central library) and a night time view of the University library (rhs) in Copenhagen, because I loved them:

Maybe we should take a vote on the Coolest, the Prettiest, and the Coziest...?

not My Library by a long shot...and I probably won't get this right..but


i got it..The Bodelian...Oxford, UK..never been there, never seen it. Isn't that a 'dream"?

Extremely embarrassing disclosure: got to Oxford, loved this building, never went inside it. Always figured there'd be time eventually . . .

And it's not like I was there for a day or two. All told, I spent 3 months in Oxford. *shame*

Message 64: ejj1955

*shocked* !!!!!!! It is gorgeous!

#64

oh lord..i was posting a "dream"...like the best Library i could imagine (imagination is the "key", here)

going for visual..not "actual"

:-}

To be fair, I was working there, and the place I was working had quite a few books:

#63 *gasp!* It's WONDERFUL! *scurries off to check finances and airline fares to the UK*

Such an interesting variety of buildings. I must say, though, for libraries I much prefer the old buildings to the modern ones.

I think that is not the Bodleian Library itself, its the Radcliff Camera. That, like many other buildings in Oxford gets you inside the Bodleian Library. (http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/library/locate/old_library) I went through Divinity School. It was the most amazing library I ever visited.

And on another note my childhood library where I spent many an afternoon was not so glamorous, but very dear to me indeed

No one has mentioned one of these yet:



I have very fond memories of the bookmobile coming to our neighborhood in the summer.

Re: #28 HTML = for sizing, you don't have to enter both width and height (which might involve, eek! math) -- if you just enter the width (usually around 500 to 600 is good for LT) the height automatically maintains the ratio, so you don't end up with something like this:

#63 I'm afraid I've been past the Bodleian many times without going in too... (yes, I know I live in Cambridge, but the rest of my family all went to Oxford - I'm conflicted ;o))

Just discovered the most wonderful collection of photos of the insides of some famous libraries...

I'm envious! All the libraries look amazing! I wish my library looked either really old or really modern...it's kind of stuck in the middle in the "plain and boring" category.

And, WOW! The Bodelian is my favorite so far!!

72: Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info...I just always did the math. *shrug*

>72 teelgee:: those poor books, getting all smooshed.

>73 flissp: OMG!! Those liberries make me *Swoon*!! Thanks for posting that link, it's just about the most fun I've had with my clothes on in months.

These pictures are amazing. I guess only on LT could pictures of libraries make people all hot and sweaty!

>72 teelgee: and >75 lauralkeet: Forget the books. Look how skinny all the people are:)

I think Bonnie's onto something here...a new weight-loss regimen...have your photo resized, it will aetherically reshape your body! For a modest fee, of course.

>73 flissp: definitely swoon-worthy. Wow.

I always loved this one too:

>80 teelgee: LOLOL

Used to live in Woodbury, and haunt the library in Syosset off the LIE.

Do they have groups for Library Pictures Anonymous ? Really getting addictive..... sigh Loving every picture.

>80 teelgee:: Oh I love that show!
Marion .... madame librarian ... -- great dance sequence. And now the entire score will play back in my brain.

>84 lauralkeet: There could be worse music in your brain!

Last time I watched Music Man a couple years ago, I watched that library scene/dance several times, I was so taken with it. Brilliant.

I started thinking about movies with libraries in them, and if I could find a decent picture of the library in "Desk Set" (with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy), I'd post it. Love that movie despite some obvious flaws.

Beauty and the Beast, people, Beauty and the Beast... Oh, how I wanted that library!

#87 :o)

This one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FShFSqulwL8

It's pretty spectacular.

Love all the Pics...but(t) i must agree with

#76 (RichardAsUsual)

;-}

I recently toured Adams National Historic Park in Quincy, MA. John Adams has a great library that he never used. He wrote in his will that the books must be housed in a fire-proof structure away from the main house. It was 25 years after his death that a structure was built by his grandson. I think it now holds about 14000 volumes and papers. Here's a pic a found of the inside:

>91 jayde1599: That takes my breath away. Perfect, just perfect.

It doesn't look so very fireproof, but it sure is gorgeous!

OMG - I've just planned my next weekend trip....how glorious!

>91 jayde1599: *schemes how to steal entire Adams Liberry and move it to Long Island*

>91 jayde1599: - Now, remove the portraits from the middle of the balustrading, and replace those hard-looking old leather chairs with something a little squidgier, and I reckon I could live with that...

When I read The Secret History I imagined the library at the twins' house, where they all stay, to look a little like that. Only with elegant chairs and chaise-longues, an old dark writing desk, antique refreshment tables and full-length drapes. *drifts off into the old 'If I Was A Rich Girl' library reverie*

How about this one, the library at Chatsworth House:

Not bad. We might want to get rid of the piano, though, and get some cushier chairs . . .

I like the piano for the perspective it gives on the size of the place. I could imagine sitting there reading while someone played Debussy gently . . . and the butler would bring me my tea . . .

All right, Debussy. Do we get scones with the tea?

And clotted cream and jam, if it's my fantasy we're talking about. Absolutely!

Meet you there.

This library no Palácio e Convento de Mafra was featured in late Jose Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda and is one of the most beautiful libraries in Portugal.

#91

I could live with that.....

I've been waiting for a moment to gather some pics of my favourite libraries, past and present - meanwhile some amazing ones have been added.

First of all, here's the new City Library in Newcastle, UK



This glass box does not look very attractive from the outside (unless you like that sort of thing), but inside looking out is a different story:



During the early summer of 2007 over a thousand people in Newcastle were asked four questions: What makes you happy? What would you change? What do you fear? What gives you hope? The answers were woven directly into drawings that are printed onto the glazed elevation of the new City Library. See http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/librarypublicart for more information and images.

I was delighted when I first saw this - the words are a wonderful combination of idealism, cynicism, honesty, humour, pain and celebration, and I think using ordinary people's words in this way is an imaginative addition to a library.

Next, here's a picture of one of my favourite libraries, which I first visited in about 1990.



This is St Deiniol's Library, in Hawarden, which is near Chester, but just across the border into Wales. It is a unique institution, certainly in this country: a residential library. They have study bedrooms and full board catering provided; you can stay for just a few days, a week or spend a sabbatical term there. You can read in peace in the beautiful old library, and then have interesting discussions at meal times with other residents. The initial collection of books were those of the 19th century politician Gladstone; the library was built as a memorial to him, and there are countless portraits, busts and cartoons of Gladstone to be spotted around the building of course. They've added to the original collection of books; the main strengths are Victorian studies and religion. I try to get away there once a year for a reading week - I mostly read my own books brought from home, but the atmosphere and company are far more conducive to serious reading and reflection than back home.

Article about the place here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/aug/01/deiniol-library-hawarden-wales-hote... .

It's a good and reasonably priced place to stay if you are visiting the North West of Britain (close to Manchester, Liverpool etc).

Going back to my undergraduate days (early 1980s), my college in Cambridge was practically under the shadow of the grim 1930s tower of the Cambridge University Library:



I have memories of sitting in the gathering gloom near closing time, trying to finish reading an article desperately needed for an essay. The lights in the stacks were on timers, which tick-tick-ticked their way back to zero and then, each with a CLUNK that made me jump, one by one the timed lights would switch off abrubtly , so that in the end my desk lamp seemed to be the only island of light in the dark, empty building. Not a cheerful place!

Here's a pic of the library where I worked for a year as a trainee librarian - it's another modern building, 1950s this time:



This is the English Faculty Library in Oxford, which shares the same building with the Law Faculty Library. It was not in those days, but I see that it is now under the umbrella of the Bodleian Library. In my day we were part of a pilot project to introduce computer-based cataloguing in the university libraries. A team of volunteers were used to import MARC records from an American library service and then spend months fine-tuning the very inaccurate results.

And finally, we've already seen (#63) the beautiful Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, part of the Bodleian Library - it's the main reading room for undergratuates reading English, Theology or History. But my favourite of the historical part of the Bodleian is Duke Humfrey's Library:





I had the great privilege of being a regular reader in Duke Humfrey's in the late 1980s/early 90s - it's the reading room for those studying medieval manuscripts and rare books. Pencils only allowed, no pens. It is an amazing place to be - the oldest part of the library, and some of the books on the shelves even older than the library. Not the most comfortable place to study though - at least not for those of ample proportions: the chairs seemed to have been designed with thin, bony scholars in mind!

Despite the wonderful library of John Adams above, we Americans are pikers compared with the Brits and their libraries. Those rooms are sheer beauty.

Though I empathize on the question of comfort!

>105 gennyt:, a residential library in Wales with full board catering...?!? Oh my -- sounds like heaven!

Just happened to stumble upon this thread and the pictures are simply stunning. Each and every one of your libraries is a cathedral in its own right. Our religion is universal, open to all, neither liberal or conservative and best of all FREE. Long live the Library!

>110 AMQS: Oh, yes, that very idea filled me with such longing I was unable to express it. I want to go there, and tomorrow would not be too soon.

>112 ejj1955: Me, too! Only I was thinking tonight.

Dragging this away from the gorgeous UK libraries to my local library:



The image title is "Newtown Women's Library", but they're actually in an annex off the back, and this is the local City of Sydney Library branch. It used to be a soldier's barracks, I believe, and is now a lovely big barn with books. The inside is quite lovely too - high roof, and nice details like pressed tin details, painted prettily. Wish I could have found a photo from the inside...

And this is the State Library, the Mitchell Library in the city, currently celebrating its 100th anniversary:



Looks like their 100 exhibition (http://www.onehundred.sl.nsw.gov.au/) has recently closed, which is a shame, it was really quite wonderful.

No need to apologize for dragging us down under if that's what you've got there. Wonderful. Lovely.

Wow, wookieb, that's astonishing!

If travel was less expensive, I could really get behind a Grand Tour of Libraries of the World. I'd love to visit each and every one of the libraries shown here, even the less flashy ones. The little branch library I used to go to as a child was nothing special, a boxy little nondescript yellow brick building in Chicago, but oh! the magic was there too.

#117 You are quite right - the buildings may be old or new, grand or humble, but it's the contents that matters, and the fact that those collections are there and available to readers.

The university-library in Leuven, Belgium where I spent most of my time as a student. It was built with gifts by the American people and designed by the American architects Wh. Warren en Ch.D. Wetmore after the old library was destroyed in World War I. On the outside-walls, the names of a lot of American colleges and universities are engraved.
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_libraries_in_Leuven





And here's a local beach-library at the Belgian coast. How about that?:-)

What a great idea! Do you get fined for returning books covered in sand and smeared with suncream?

I am loving all these great pictures and postings!!! So many amazing libraries out there, makes me have renewed faith books will not be superseded, at least not right away, by the e-books of the digital age. An e-book library doesn't take my breath away as these libraries do.

The beach-library is free, open 7/7, from 10 a.m. till 18 p.m. during summer, you don't have to be a member and the little cabin is packed with novels, thrillers, graphic novels, magazines (also in English and French). You only have to give your name and adress when you lend the materials. I don't think they bother about sand and suncream too much as the materials aren't returned to the normal library-circuit after summer.
It seems it was "invented" in Seabruges (part of Brugge or Bruges) about 8 years ago and the idea was "exported" to the rest of the coast of Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands. Do you have something similar in England or wherever all of you live?

Well since no one from Seattle has posted it yet, and since I'm going to see it next week when I go there and meet up with two other LTers, here's the fairly well known and lauded Seattle Public Library.



I know I'm among friends when I say i'm going on vacation and will take the time to visit the local public library and no one snickers or stares. You guys are great.

#122 I've never seen anything like a beach library in England certainly. I wish there had been one on some of my Mediterranean beach holidays as a child, when I used to finish all my books half way through the holidays and then be stuck. These days its not a problem, I take half my own library with me on holiday!

>122 Trifolia: I'll say we don't have anything similar here on Long Island! That's amazing! I like the idea...have to get someone in power to pay attention to it.

>105 gennyt: I now know where I will spend Eternity.

#125. It is a great idea, low-cost and fun. Apparently there also are activities, such as meetings with authors, "poetry-nights", "sunset-readings". Imagine that :-)

Here are some more pictures:






and even a video on the phenomenon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyJ1OjOA3DU&feature=related

Nothing like the beach library is likely to happen anytime soon in sunny (and broke) California, but one can hope. What a great idea! Every beach in the world should copy Seabruges.

Whenever I go someplace new, I always check out the libraries. They are so different and beautiful in different cities. My childhood library was on the top floor of shopping centre. They wanted to locate it in the centre of the town. It was very plain, but it was so magical to me,
I will never forget it.My greatest dream is that when I die I will find a
magnificent library in heaven where I will be able to continue reading all of the books I didn't have time to read while I was alive. What a paradise that would be.

>128 alans: That's the first description of an afterlife that I'd actually like to experience. Sounds exactly like what heaven should be.

Don't worry everyone....I've got it all set up with Sr. Mary Catherine, my mentor and HS librarian --she assured me 50 years ago I didn't have to read everything before I died because heaven was actually a gigantic library with everybook ever written, a big fat easy chair, good reading lamp, and whatever beverage we'd like. I'm sure Sister would let me include a non-allergic cat (so Richard could sit close by and we could trade reviews!!)

Meet you all there!

Thanks for the inside scoop!

That does sound like my idea of heaven!

I agree. And if you can't trust a nun, who can you trust?

I am so very jealous of all these beautiful libraries, both new and old. My local library looks more like a Walgreens and they have hardly anything there. The children's section has a good selection, but it is set up horribly and does not lend itself to being browsed by young children. I generally reserve books online and just make a quick dash in when they come in. If I could go to one of these gorgeous buildings, I might stay longer.

>128 alans: That sounds like heaven, all right!

>130 tututhefirst: Except for the cat. Gotta go.

>133 jennieg: Anyone at all, just not nuns, monks, priests, popes, ministers, imams, rabbis, or other "religious" professionals.

> 128
If my dogs went there, I want to go there too ;-)

I can't believe I just found this thread. What a world tour. I don't remember whether I posted photos of my libraries on Richard's thread or not. So, probably nobody else remembers either. This is the first public library I became acquainted with, in my school days, the Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library in Hancock, NY *waves at Elizabeth on up there in Sidney*


And this is the Albright Memorial Library in Scranton, which is so overcrowded they keep threatening to build a new one, but of course there's no money for such things, and for once, I think I'm glad of that.



Right next door to the Albright is the Children's Library, where I loved to take my daughter when she was little; they had such wonderful literary characters all about---Mary Poppins swung from the ceiling.



P.S.--Elizabeth...if you ever stop in to Nancy's Place on Main Street in Sidney, say "hi" to my cousin Nancy for me. She's a laytonwoman too!

In the catagory of humble libraries, this is the Jasper Public Library in the Canadian Rockies.

The building was the first R.C.M.P. detachment in Jasper National Park and, when the police moved into a larger building, it was converted into a public library.

>138 Gail.C.Bull: What a beautiful building! But the "Closed" sign makes me sad....

Yes, Richard...just what I was thinking. And what a backdrop!

>140 laytonwoman3rd: Laura3rd, I am sooo missing snow right now! It's 90 degrees! 70 percent humidity! YECHHH

>137 laytonwoman3rd: Laytonwoman, I'm waving back! Those are some handsome buildings. Are you in the Scranton area now? I spent a couple of high school years in that area (in Carbondale).

By Nancy's Place, do you mean the Trackside Diner? I'm pretty sure that's the same place . . .

(Psst...Richard....I'm Linda. Laura is the offspring! She would be laytonwoman4th, if she weren't lycomayflower.) "Missing snow"....can't say I've ever uttered those words. I am rather tired of the 90's, though.

Yes, Elizabeth, I work in Scranton, live in *nose in air, slight sniff* the Abingtons. And, yes, Trackside/Nancy's--same place. Carbondale, eh? Amazing how small the world is.

And for completeness, I should include a photo of the Abington Community Library, which is rather new, and really the one I frequent most often these days.

LINDA LINDA LINDA LINDA LINDA

I called a fellow LTer and spoke to her by my second wife's name. It isn't even in the same name family. I can't believe today! I blame it on the tree falling on the garage yesterday.

LINDA LINDA LINDA LINDA LINDA

This is a photo I took of the Chief Conservator at the Boston Antenaeum. Its still the most beautiful library I've ever seen.



I want to live there.

You all have so many beautiful libraries!
Here is the library that I used throughout all my childhood. I still go there now even though there are a few closer branches. It was recently renovated and although they kept the same basic look, the inside is all confused. At least they kept the fireplaces.

Last weekend on a visit to a town several miles up the Maine Coast, we stopped in the gorgeous town of Camden ME, where I drool over the gorgeous library on the hill overlooking the harbor
. The library is gorgeous, but the view from the library is even better....

>147 tututhefirst:

Yes, it is pretty:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2698088115_384db88e4d.jpg

As I've traveled, I've often thought of taking pictures of the various libraries I see. I should just do it. There is such an amazing variety of buildings and settings!

>149 tymfos: Yes, you should. And then share them with us--where could you find a more appreciative audience?!

#147, 148 AND, it's home to the Edna St. Vincent Millay collection. I'm currently reading Savage Beauty, an excellent biography of Vincent, who was born in Rockland and spent part of her childhood in Camden.

105 gennyt: drat you straight to heck. I saw your post on St. Deiniol's and lost an HOUR on the internet planning a fantasy vacation to Wales. Wow!!! I'm totally going there someday. (-:,

I'm unrepentant, reconditereader - that hour is surely not lost, but those plans stored up in the memory until the time comes (even if it's years away) when you find yourself visiting England and need a reasonably priced place to stay - and suddenly remember that you can get that and a whole lot more at St Deiniol's!

#106 Ooh, Genny, which Cambridge college did you go to? Surely the college libraries are much nicer to look at than the main University library? I have to agree about the grimness of it though - I only went there a few times during University holidays (it's very convenient living near a big university sometimes!), but it didn't leave the best impression. The University Medical Library I went to a lot more often when I was working nearby and it's even grimmer (although it does have a bit of Watson and Crick's DNA modeling...)

#119 JustJoey4 I love the idea of a beach library - what a fantastic idea!

#128 alans "My greatest dream is that when I die I will find a magnificent library in heaven where I will be able to continue reading all of the books I didn't have time to read while I was alive. What a paradise that would be." - me too (despite my lack of belief in a heaven of any description). It would also contain finished versions of all those books that the author died before finishing, like Wives and Daughters and The Watsons...

#149 tymfos "As I've traveled, I've often thought of taking pictures of the various libraries I see. I should just do it" - actually, that is something I have started to do over recent years (eg msg61). That said, I tried to take a photo of the main Chicago library when I was there in June and failed miserably - I just couldn't get enough of it to fit in one frame!

#149 ...actually, as noone else seems to have posted it, here's a (scanned) picture of New York Central Library, taken in 2006:

>149 tymfos: Excellent idea, tymfos! So yesterday, I went for a drive in the Rocky Mountains with my sis and niece. We went to a little town where my sister lived 25 years ago. As we drove around, I mentioned that I'd like to see if they have a public library so I could take a picture of it. Strangely enough, we drove into a small shopping center to get a couple bottles of water and there, in front of us, was this:

On July 27th, the world's first Airport Library opened in Schiphol (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). It will be officially opened on August 25th by a Dutch princess, but it's already up and running (and quite successful, it appears). I found this old information in English: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/worlds-first-airport-library-schiphol-amsterda..., as the up-to-date info is all in Dutch

And this, because I don't think anyone has posted The Library of Congress yet:

My visual for the Library of Congress is always that scene in "All the President's Men" in which Woodward and Bernstein (Redford and Hoffman) are searching through the slips showing what various members of the White House staff had checked out. It's a wonderful overhead shot.

Might be time to look at that movie again...thanks for bringing it up, Elizabeth!

This has got to be my favorite LT thread. If only I could visit each and everyone of those libraries.

I just came across another awesome library, this one from the UK:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-12697012

That's fantastic, Paperback Pirate. It's so great that people are finding ways of keeping and using those old phone boxes. They are such a distinctive and beautiful part of the British landscape.

Plus you never know when one will turn out to be the Tardis.

Do I detect a Dr. Who fan?? :)

Well, of course ;-)

#4- Obviously WAYYYYYYYY late in posting but I just had to say that we live in Broome County, too, so we share a library!! =) I smiled when I saw it. We just moved here recently and I've only been there a couple of times with my daughter, but it was nice to actually recognize it.