Murder in a Grand Rapids Library?

Was Dewey Decimal,
 a long time resident in libraries,
murdered in the library
or did he just die of old age. 

 

 Let us start our investigation in the Granville Library, just southwest of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  

The Granville Public Library is part of the county wide library system in Grand Rapids - KDL -Kent District Library.  There are 18 branch libraries in the district, and each has a clue to what happened to poor Mr Dewey.  The first clue was a notice standing near the reference desk.

Yes, that is what the sign says and yes, that is what they have done! 

 Librarians reading this should remember to start breathing again! 

 

I can hear people asking "Well, what are they going to use then?  LOC ??   (Library of Congress)  I was wondering the same thing and went looking for American history.  The old Dewey classifation numbers had been replaced. What I found now was subject headings.

 

 

Oh, just like being in a bookstore.  In fact that was the comment I heard from librarians.  "We changed from Dewey so we would be more like bookstores that shelf books by subject matter."  
      OK. Fair enough. So I dove into the stacks to get a first hand view of how the system worked.

Well the book labels are a lot less complicated.  No long string of numbers and letters. I have several books on US presidents and 15 or 20 on Lincoln. How do they differentiate one Lincoln book from another. 
    Lets look at a shelf full.

Starting on the left is a book named Stuntman by Hal Needham, Willie Nelson, Bob Newhart, Paul Newman, Isaac Newton, John Newton, Code Talker (?)  2 volumes of Stealing Buddah's dinner (?)  Five Easy Decades (Jack Nicholson) Heaven is here (?) Nietzsche, Nightingales, and The Arrogance of Power.  If we look closer we see the name of the person who is the subject of each book.

 

The two books labeled"Newton" are biographies of two different Newtons, Isaac and John.  I assume there is a method to know which book is which. 
     A very nice lady at the reference desk told me how good the system was and how it solved some problems for people who were looking for a particular subject. All the books on that subject will be together.
      Later I stopped at another KDL branch Library and one of the workers there seemed less enthusiastic. She offered a couple examples. Where would a person find a book on the sinking of the Titantic?  Obviously under Travel, sub heading boats.  Then she gave a worse example. She said there was a book dealing with accounting that was titled "Cooking the Books".  You can probably guess  the subject matter where it was shelved!  Yes, Cookbooks!!
No system is perfect.  In all my years of using the public library I never did learn the Dewey System, but was able to locate books of interest. 
       Perhaps Mr Dewey will just die of old age.  Time will tell.
But now I would love to show you the rest of the Granville Library.

     The brick building has some pleasant architectural features. Here are some of them I was able to photograph.

MAIN ENTRANCE

     The brick pillars near the front entrance continue to form this pleasing arc. There are two of these extensions of pillars into this arc shape.

 

To the left is the inside view of the picture above.

The picture above shows the column wall attached to the main library where a large semi-circular roof covers an area where people can sit or some type of performance can be held for an audience in the large bricked area in front of the covered "porch".   Note on the right the columns and arches continue as seen below where the large parking area can be seen.

Inside the building is spacious and open. The center wide area extends all the way to the other end of the building.  The atmosphere is inviting and comfortable. All the normal things you expect to find in a library are here in abundance. 

On the right is a part of the open and spacious reading and study area.  The information desk (below) is located where it is easily seen and accessed. The two ladies that worked there were most helpful and were enthusiastic about the change to a subject based shelving system.  I don't think they are going to miss Mr. Dewey. 

 Beyond the information desk is the main entrance. The woodwork and wall treatment combine with the warm friendly staff to make this a place where you can feel comfortable and relax with a good book.

 And here is the place where people can check out books on their own.  Normally there are staff people busily working behind this counter, but I waited until no one would be in the picture.
But before we check out we should notice the logo in the childrens area.

 Now we can  end our visit to the Ganville Public Library and check out some good reading. The younger readers get a special library card (Below)
 (Wish I could use such a fun card. - Maybe the keyring size cards are for parents...or maybe Granville kids have cars??)







Katie is not waving "Goodbye" but "Hello - Welcome back"

Inside Passage Libraries - Ketchikan

(This picture is from the Friends of The Library website)

 In June 2012 my wife and I spent two weeks on a cruise of the Alaska inside passage. Visiting the libraries of the inside passage was both interesting and rewarding.  We tried to visit the libraries of Ketchikan, Juneau, Anchorage, Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska.  Our cruise left Seattle on Friday and two days later (Sunday) we docked in Ketchikan.

    The picture above shows one of the five cruise ships that were docked in Ketchikan the Sunday we arrived.  With a couple thousand passengers on each boat, that meant elbowing your way through about 10,000 tourists in almost that many gift shops.  When we got off our ship we gladly headed for the library.

      
      The Walk from our ship to the library took a few minutes. As you can see above even in late June people wore jackets in the 50 degree temperature and 100% plus humidity. Much of the inside passage is very humid and cloudy (read fog). After following a few streets that climbed the steep hillside that Ketchikan is built on we arrived only to remember it was Sunday and the library was closed.  We were able to get inside the building which houses both a library wing and a museum wing.  
      We were even more disappointed when we saw their annual library sale was only a few days later. I took a few pictures that do not do the library justice. For instance, the picture I took through a window does not reveal much.

Usually when we visit a new library I like to pick up a souvenir library card and my wife buys a cloth or canvas book bag. Many libraries have "Friends of the Library " fund raising and support groups that have a book bag for sale.  But, alas, that was not possible here. 

      Instead we enjoyed the setting for this library. It is next to a rushing stream that flows next to the building.

     The corner of the library is in the upper left corner of the picture above. Imagine having a wonderful river like this cascading over the rocks next to your library. 

     I learned some interesting things about the library even though it was not open. The "No-Hassle" sign to the right described an interesting feature. No library card needed. Just get the book stamped (maybe so it gets returned to the library).  This was a new idea I had not noticed in other libraries.  Perhaps others do this, but it was new to me. 

    The library has plans in place for building a larger facility. The plans were presented in several formats. Below are sketchs and a photo of the proposed building. 

(My photo of  a displayed sketch)

Cost $12 million

(my photo of a picture displayed at the library)

     

(this picture is from the library website)

    Even at 50 degrees the humidity will make you sweat walking up the hills in this town. And no I did not try the stairs shown below.

     The picture of all those stairs was taken somewhere near the library.  We decided we would wait for the free shuttle bus that travels around town.  While waiting in the pleasant little open roofed shelter (it rains a lot here) I noticed a street sign just up the hill from the library.  I did not ask anyone how the name was selected. There are some things I would rather not know any details about!

Even with the fuzzy telephoto picture, you can still make out the name of this street "Married Man's Trail" !  I dunno??  Your guess is as good as mine. Like I said. Maybe we really don't want to know why they chose that street name(More on married man's trail is found at the end of the blog.  Tsk Tsk .. Oh My!)

     The bus soon arrived and we headed downtown.

The downtown tourist area is clean and neat. I could not count how many tourist shops there were. I was most surprised that the number of expensive jewlelry stores.  So we spent a little time in some of the stores pictured below. 

   

Notice all the fog in the background. Also notice the streets are wet but very neat and clean.  If you enjoy humidity you would love it here. 

The clock and my feet indicated it was time to head back for the ship. Our few hours here were pleasant but a little sad we had not been able to visit the library.

  

     We took a last look over our shoulder at the ships tied up across the street from the gift shops.  Then walked through the tunnel and back to our ship. Notice the wooden stairs here as well.  This picture is taken of a main street right along the waterfront.  Within a few minutes we were back to the Amsterdam (our ship) and after a brief stop at our cabin and some delicious food we went up to an observation deck to take a last look at ketchikan.  By then all the other cruise ships had departed for their next stop. 

    Next we will be visiting the Alaska State Library as well as the Juneau Public Library and talking to the "Zen Librarian"

   Look for that blog in a few days.  As always thanks for reading and making any comments.  I respond to all Emails sent to

davidwiseley@gmail.com

 

Married Man's Trail was named for men who found the
trail much to their liking. The trail provided them a measure of serenity they could not have enjoyed on the main streets of Ketchikan. It led to Creek Street. At one time Creek Street served a number of businesses, who were in the, well let's just call it service industry. The trail was used by married men who wanted the services ladies provided in the businesses on Creek street. They preferred this less traveled trail to the busy streets of town.
        A knowledgable person from Ketchikan explained it in fewer words.

      "This trail was used by married men to sneek down to the cathouses that lined Creek street so no one would see them going there."
See, I did warn you that there are some things you just don't want to know!

I have Emailed the director of the Ketchikan library in the hopes they have additional information about their library that might be of interest to those who read this blog. If you want to learn more about this library or it's fund raising efforts please go to the following websites.

To connect to the Ketchikan Public Library

http://www.firstcitylibraries.org/KPLhomepage.html

To see pictures of their childrens section go here

http://www.city.ketchikan.ak.us/departments/libraries/index.html

To learn more about the building fund or make a donation see this site

http://www.friendsoftheketchikanlibrary.org/index.html

Or if you would like to contact the director here is her Email.

Linda Gens, Library Director  

 lindag@firstcitylibraries.org

Small Children Love This Library!

    This lovely stained glass window is typical of the interesting and unexpected features of this small town library in Dexter Michigan, a few miles northwest of Ann Arbor.  

This sign is along the main street of town (Near the Fire Department). The library is easy to find and is only about a block or two down a side street.

 If you look closely you can read "Dexter District Library" above the main entrance to the library.







You can see one of the stained glass panels hanging in the window above. On the left is the view from the inside.

Beyond the checkout desk (right) you are treated to this view. The high arched ceiling and exposed curved beams are not what you would expect to see in a "village Library".  Additional architectural surprises await patrons and visitors alike. 

Even the buildings pillars become an architectural statement, as seen in the long black lighting fixtures that replicate the support beems by the windows.  

Here is a view of the reading area below the wood beams. This was taken looking back toward the  check out desk.   

   This library was designed to be attractive and functional for all ages. The children were not an after thought here.  The picture below says that loud and clear.  It shows one of the reasons little kids like to come to this library.  

I almost missed this shot. I had finished my tour of the library and asked the friendly ladies behind the desk if there was anything else I should take a picture of and they said "Oh yes...go look in the childrens bathroom".  They later told me small children want to come to the library just to use the toilet.

     The leg belongs to my wife Linda and shows how small this little childrens toilet is.  This was the first time I had seen such a small toilet.  But Linda said she had seen one before.  When we were in a library in a suburb of Detroit she had searched for a restroom and said when she finally found one they had this same little toilet....so she used it!

 The pictures to the left show part of the childrens area.    

 There are toys and activities tucked in cubby holes under the window seat. 

Below left shows a portion of the shelves next to the play area. 




 The shelves are filled with Children's books. No wonder kids like this library.

Older students weren't forgotten. There are a number of rooms for them to use for study.. and   they were !  (Back in my day teens talked about dates and teachers and other teens) 

Adult readers were not forgotten either.

The photo below just makes you want to sit and browse magazines or read a book.

Or you might prefer this open air covered patio setting. 

Building architecture is displayed even over the patio pictured above.
The building was filled with features like this.  

The computer section was well equipped and roomy.

Some libraries have comfy chairs tucked into corners and reading nooks, but here they put this group in a straight line??  Must have been a reason.

                        Oh, there was a reason alright. 

The photo below was taken to show the large window wall that looks out on a walking path along the river.

 And here are some views of what they would see if they looked up from their reading. 

The walking path and landscaping is still being completed (Spring 2012), but is open. The photo to the left shows a unique feature. The path becomes a bridge over the river and under a railroad bridge. Notice the tracks near the top.

There was one more feature of this library not often seen in small town libraries.

So down the unique stairs to the lower level  (actually only one flight down..I took this from one flight above the main floor.) 




 The lower level had large rooms to accommodate meetings and groups sessions, and the walls were covered with nicely displayed art work.

A big thank you to the staff of the Dexter District Library for allowing me to feature their lovely library in my blog. They were fun and friendly ladies and made us feel welcome.  If you ever get to visit here they will give you the same small town, friendly greeting we received.

PLEASE NOTE: 
       The visit to Dexter Library ends here!
The following comments and photos are mine and are in no way connected with Dexter District Library.  The library is in not connected to this business except they are in the same town a block or so apart and these photos were added  out of respect for our veterans.
This ended my visit to the library, but did not end my experience in Dexter.  I normally do not promote private business on this blog but this one was just a block from the library and was so unique I decided to describe it.

Below is a restaurant with "God Bless America"  proudly displayed.

Inside the patriotic theme was continued

The flags of the five branches of our military were displayed on the wall. My apologies that my camera did not include the Army on the left or the Coast guard on the right.  Our waitress said they usually have either the Declaration of Independance or the Constitution as part of the table covering

The waitresses all wore shirts with different messages on the back. 

This message seems appropriate especially since I am writing this a few days after memorial day.  Find some one who served in the military, shake their hand and tell them "Thank you for serving our country" 

And finally a big thank you to those who read this blog.  Your comments and suggestions for libraries to visit are always welcome, as well as any comments you would like to make.       davidwiseley@gmail.com 
I will respond to all who write me.