446 Mason County District Library, Scottville Branch, Scottville, MI

The Scottville library is conveniently located on Route 10, which runs through the center of the town. I spotted it when I drove to Ludington the day before, and knew it would be a short backtrack to add it to my "collection." And I'm glad I did, as it is a fine addition.

I've visited several libraries that have trees, realistic or stylistic, marking the entrance to the children's area. But this birch tree, with an owl and other residents, plus the moon shining through the branches, took my breath away as soon as I walked in. I mean, just, wow!

This is a very simple detail, but I like the orderly invitation to sit and color or draw. It just looks calm, and perhaps calming. And aren't those neat tote boxes?

In another part of the children's area I found an invitation to a weekly "block party," a Lego club. Lego is ubiquitous in libraries now, and I suspect that it is part of the draw to get boys interested in the library. It is frequently a draw for girls, too; when models are displayed with kids' names, it's always good (but relatively rare) to see girls represented. I didn't notice models with names here, by the way--that was just a mini soapbox moment.

Children's non-fiction books are shelved along the walls. One section of shelving holds three different sets of books about individual states, a fairly common presence in libraries. Less common, as in "I've never seen this before," is a set of books about each Canadian province. 

I hadn't seen one of these whimsical draped reading spots until a month or so ago, when I visited libraries in southeastern Minnesota and found these in two of the four. And here is another! I know some kids who would be thrilled to curl up on a cushion surrounded in this way and read about princesses! [That's my little blue car in the background.]

The tree is just as impressive from inside the children's area.

The desk in the foreground seemed to be under construction, perhaps? A nameplate near the little plant identifies this as the desk of "Miss Liz."

I'm glad I got to the library shortly after it opened, because patrons began coming in soon after I did. Fortunately, I was able to get this picture of a pleasant browsing spot for adults before people arrived, since I don't take pictures with people in them.

The library offices are in the back of the building, in the center. To the left is the teen area with a diner booth that looks authentic. Six computers are available for Internet access. A meeting room is in the rear to the right.

Another "first" for me was seeing some adult fiction labeled "Family Fiction." From my library years, I recognize these books as ones that will have family-friendly themes and won't surprise the reader with raw content. Labeling them in this way seems to me to be more inclusive than labeling them, as I've seen in other places, as being for people of a specific religious background. A similar approach is shown in the shelf of DVDs labeled "Hallmark Movies."

5/16/2017