185. Public Library, Dodgeville, Wisconsin

OK, I admit it, this Wisconsin trip was timed to coincide with the big Lands End Warehouse Sale here at their home in Dodgeville. And I found some great bargains, thanks for asking. I also found a very nice public library.

As often happens, I started in the kids' area, where I first spotted a display of Lego club models. A shelf of bilingual books (Spanish/English) was not unusual, but there were also quite a few books in braille, not nearly as common. Large letters on the spines of books indicated the author's last initial; I'm not sure, but it may be that these books are shelved only by these letters, not alphabetically by author and title. Perhaps someone reading this will correct me if I am wrong. Book spines also sport plus signs, and I asked about the significance of + and ++. I must be getting tired, because I can't make sense of my notes about this. I'm pretty sure that picture books have ++ and easy readers have +, but I think there was more to it than that. Again, comments are welcome.

A mural with a dragon and a castle covers one wall and is partly blocked by a bookshelf. I hope this means that the collection has been growing--though it is too bad to have to block a mural. [As an aside...murals in children's libraries are almost always dragons and castles; how about a mural of a science lab? Just sayin'.]

A small table with drop-down shelves (think of an old-style typing table) bore this sign: "Please leave this shelf down. We've had too many injuries to little kids' faces when it is left up. Thank you." Ouch!

Teens have there own space in a back corner, with assorted chairs and tables. A world language section includes both books and some media. A small shelf held "uncatelogued paperbacks." I saw this one other place, in Ontario or Michigan, I think, and the intent was for sharing without the need to check out. I don't know if that was the case here.

I spotted a wooden rocker labeled "Mrs. Brown's Chair" with book titles and cover art laminated to the seat. Story time chair, perhaps?

The central part of the library near the service desk had several displays of solar models. I would like to have paid more attention, but I was running out of steam.

For more information, go to http://dodgevillelibrary.com/.

8/1/2013, car