Provincetown (Mass) Public Library

I am sometimes asked how many libraries I intend to visit, whether I have a goal. At those times, I point out the title of the blog, "Every Library I Can." Hey, there are more public libraries than there are McD's -- I'm certainly never going to see them all. But I have ways of expanding my reach, as in this entry. A friend from Minnesota was visiting Cape Cod recently, and very kindly sent pictures and text for this entry. Rather than making me glad to have one more entry, however, I find that I really, really would like to visit this library myself!

In the meantime, here is my friend's report and pictures, Want more? I highly recommend the library's website, which you will find at http://provincetownlibrary.org/about-the-provincetown-public-library/.
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Here are the pictures of the library in Provincetown. The one of the outside of a building is the library,

and entry is as you walk into the main floor. It originally was the town hall and then historic society, and ultimately became the library. 

[I've found that most libraries located in towns on water, whether lake, river, or ocean, have some kind of boat or ship on display. The library in Provincetown is certainly no exception! As you'll see below, the feature is a half-scale model of the schooner Rose Dorothea. There are informational signs, but for the sake of your eyes, I suggest going to the library website for details. Or visit P-town!]

    

To see the ship, you go upstairs, where the children's library, along with other things, is located. 

 You then can go up to almost a mezzanine, where you can get a better vantage point of the whole ship.  

The pictures out the window are from that level, looking out at the harbor.  There are two chairs with a table in between situated in front of the windows. What a wonderful spot to sit and read!  There is a sign that asks for quiet in this area, which makes it even more appealing.   

[Some books are on blue shelves along the hull of the ship. The top shelf curves to simulate waves, a very nice detail.]

 The whole library is very inviting, with lots of sitting areas, but clearly there are visitors that just stop in to see the ship.  Funny story – a couple came in, so he could show her the ship.  He proceeded to go on and on about it being the actual schooner and that they had to dismantle it and rebuild it!  All this, standing near the sign that says it was a replica, built in 1977!! Probably not readers!!!

I on the other hand loved breathing in the smell of the books and kept picking them up to leaf through!  There were also lots of pictures of the real ship so Phil was in his element, reading every last sign  posted!  J Oh, they also have the actual Lipton Cup that the schooner won in a case on a pedestal - BIG.  For whatever reason, I didn’t take a picture!

[But she did take a picture of the old card catalog, now displaced by computers, of course. She claims to have not seen the "do not touch" sign, and I choose to believe her. Her companion pointed it out; he probably noticed it because in his profession, details are very important!]

May 2018