Washburn has had a public library since 1885, and the library has been housed in this Carnegie building for over 100 years.
The children's area is to the left inside the door, with those nice tall windows you can see in the pictures. The Dr. Seuss rug is cute, and I don't recall seeing one anywhere else. There is a classic fireplace hiding behind a bookshelf, a wooden rocking horse that looks pretty old, and ten, yes ten, beanbag chairs. I would love to see a scrum of kids esconced in those chairs! There are all the types of books you would expect to find, including a lot of audio books. The area for fiction is labeled "Fiction: Stories that have made-up characters and events." There is even a basket of free books for kids. This is fairly common in library lobbies or adult areas, but I'm not sure I've seen such a thing specifcally targeted at kids.
Can you name the characters shown?
Three of the ten beanbag chairs, and a gigantic teddy bear. See the fireplace hiding behind the books?
The space to the right of the entrance is the adult area. The fireplace on this side is complete with birch logs, but looks as if it is no longer in service. There is a "living room" area with easy chairs, and a couple of tables for reading, browsing, and study. One shelf holds books that have won the Nobel Prize for LIterature.
Toward the back of the building are six computers with a sign asking nicely that computer users "Please Be Quiet." There is a modest shelf of Amish Fiction and many, many books on CD. There's even a sign that "More books on CD are in the basement reading room."
And there is something I've only seen once before, and it was on this same trip: an old card catalog cabinet with doubledrawers.
Steph, the librarian, assured me that I could have a look at the teen area and the reading room in the lower level, that the class meeting there was accustomed to people walking through, but when I got partway down the stairs I could see that the class was Tai Chi. I know the concentration required for that art, and I couldn't bring myself to go in. Next trip.
5/21/2016
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Sorry about the "verification" step; I added it after a rash of spammish comments.