443a Appleton Public Library, Appleton, WI

Perhaps I've been at this too long. Perhaps 475 libraries are enough.

Why do I think this? I've been thinking for a year that I needed to get back here, because the library was closed the last time I tried. So when I got here yesterday, my experience should have been "Oh, good, it's open." Instead it was "hmmm, this looks a bit familiar but is not what I expected." And as I walked through and took pictures, I kept having deja vu experiences.

When I got to the motel and pulled up the blog I was able to solve the mystery. The library I had thought I was going to had been closed on Mother's Day, and a quick search for "mother" proved that I had confused Steven's Point and Appleton. I do miss my old brain.

Well, since I walked through and took a bunch of pictures, I might as well write this post. Note that this one is 443a, indicating a re-visit. To compare my notes, scroll down for 443.

Many bicycles were parked outside, and more bike riders were appearing as I parked the car. I don't know whether the library was that busy on a Friday afternoon in summer or whether the bikes had something to do with the LOUD Mile of Music concert going on across the street.

The greenhouse effect at the entrance should have reminded me of my visit a year ago. Instead, it made me think of the indoor park in Woodbury, MN.

Immediately to the left inside are the "Holds" and shelves of new books. Next, the teen area seems very grown-up or mature compared to many I've seen. A couple of teens were working diligently on something at a table just out of view. A sign reminds us that this area is "reserved for our awesome teens." The shelves in the background below hold just part of what seems to be a very extensive YA collection.

The first floor holds mainly adult fiction and media. The media collection struck me as very extensive, and includes Science Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Mystery, and Graphic Novels.

A significant collection of Hmong books and media is along one wall. There is also a display of Hmong cultural material. A collection of "Adult Easy Readers" is close by, plus books in other world languages. These are all signs that this library is especially supportive of immigrants.

This display of children's shoes is said to represent the children in foster care in this area, one pair per kid. I didn't have a chance to talk to anyone about it, and I'm not sure what message is intended, if any, beyond awareness of the numbers of children involved. I couldn't help wondering if any immigrant children, taken from their parents, were represented here.

This large mural with the names of kids posted shows how seriously the "1000 Books Before Kindergarten" program is taken here.

The children's area has its own collection of books in world languages, including Chinese, Japanese, ASL, Braille, French, Italian, Arabic, and lots of Spanish.

Media, including many Playaway Launch Pads and regular Playaways, are shelved along the walls. The stacks here hold J fiction and non-fiction.

Moving along to the preschool area, there is a "race car" for sitting and reading...or driving. What struck me as interesting is the alphabet rug with ll and rr, letters that I believe are included in the Spanish alphabet. In fact, the whole rug is bilingual!

The top of the picture book shelves hold small posters describing the importance of talking, reading, singing, and so forth, for emerging literacy, as well as suggestions for including each in a child's life.

These "train car" reading cubbies finally gave me a feeling of "I've been here before." And I should have listened to my brain!

 I was so taken by the display of shoes that I almost missed these giant "books" at the entrance to the children's area.

Non-fiction is shelved upstairs, and thissign that greets you when you reach the top of the stairs or step out of the elevator. And it really seems to work!

An area of law books also had a display of information relating to possible future plans for the town and the library. Display cases of historic artifacts finally started to make a dent in my memory: haven't I seen these before?

This large swinging rack provides a way to display aerial photographs of the area taken over the years. One panel has a picture that can be viewed in 3-D...glasses available from the staff.

This floor was quite busy, making pictures difficult. I think this arrangement in the periodical and newspaper area, with three chairs back-to-back, is interesting. There are also a couple of study rooms and 28 public computers, many of them in use when I was there.

Finally, an area on the first floor near the elevator provides a pay phone (a rarity), vending machines, and a machine that makes change.

The lower level, which I did not visit, has meeting rooms and the greenery that I saw on the way in. In fact, the entrance/exit is over a bridge above the tropical trees.

And some day, I still need to visit Steven's Point!

8/3/2018