302. Spooner, Wisconsin, Memorial Library

Deep in my DNA, inherited from my father, is the importance of not returning by the same route one took outbound. Therefore, I decided to visit Spooner, WI, on my way home from Duluth, rather than just get on I35. My decision was not at all influenced by one of the Duluth librarians telling me about a wonderful bakery in Spooner. Nope, not at all. And I didn't find the bakery, and I didn't buy more treats than I intended. Not.

The children's area is in the right-hand wing as you enter. My eyes were immediately drawn to the mural on the far wall, with trees, sky, and a clock centered in a golden sun. There are collections of picture books and readers, plus junior fiction and non-fiction. Instead of a separate section for graphic novels, they are identified by a green sticker on the spine and shelved along with junior fiction. The preschool area has a rug with letters and numbers, various hand puppets and other toys, and a sign, "We hope you enjoy playing with the toys. Please put them away before you leave. Thanks! Library Staff." I like the fact that the sign is "signed"--this is not a faceless "someone" who wants you to put the toys away, it is "Library Staff."

To the left of the door is the adult section. The area inside the large windows shown in the second picture is a "living room" area for browsing, with comfortable chairs, a study table, periodicals, and newspapers, which are not mounted on "newspaper poles" but are laid over them in the rack.

The non-fiction section has shelves labeled by topic and Dewey number. A two-step wooden stool with a tall handle allows stable access to the upper shelves. [A similar stool allows small kids access to the drinking fountain.]

Periodicals have very special shelving, made by a friend of the library. At first glance, this appears to be simply wooden sloping shelves with space behind each shelf for back issues, a standard arrangement. A closer look shows that each title has its own "cubby" with a hinged lid. It's very neat and unusual. This shelving was donated in memory of Emma Busch-Lombard.

There are movies and recorded books, of course. DVDs may be borrowed, up to ten per household for seven days. That should suffice for most cold, snowy spells!

A glass-fronted case (Lois and George Rand, 1991) holds information and books related to genealogy, and a sign suggesting the website ancestry.com.

As for the bakery? I recommend their gingersnaps; dipping them in hot chocolate instantly returns them to right-from-the-oven texture. I just polished them off, to fuel me as I wrote this entry.

For more about this library, go to http://spooner.wislib.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spooner-Memorial-Library/288615791232001.

1/14/2015,  car

 

To see the fountain and read about it, go to the library website.