"No Card for You"!

Pittsford??  Where is Pittsford?  The picture below will give you a clue.

The water in this picture is not a river or lake, but the Erie Canal just a few miles south east of Rochester, NY.  September 2013 seemed like a good time to spend a week in Rochester.  My wife has always wanted to ride on a canal boat on the Erie Canal so our first day we headed to see the canal and as we passed through Pittsford we were delighted to see a nice new (2005) library near the main intersection in town.
     Pittsford is one of those picturesque little towns where the charm of old buildings invites you to stroll down the street past every kind of "upscale" small business offering everything from bicycle rentals to clay pottery. I know they must have fast food and gas stations somewhere but I didn't see any.  
      The picture above was taken from the second floor of the library, where a quiet reading area is located along a bank of windows overlooking the small shops and houses that line this part of the canal. But I have gotten ahead of myself.
       I knew something was different about the library when I pulled into the parking area and could not find any place to park. The extended parking area sprawled behind several businesses and somewhere about 6 or 7 rows later I did manage to find a spot to park. In keeping with much of the architecture of this area the library was done in a "colonial" style red brick with classic simple lines. This is the side of the building which opens onto the garden reading area.


As usual I try to find what
makes each library I visit unique.  Pittsford does have some things I have not seen other places. The art (next photo) on the wall above the open stairway was interesting.  This picture was taken from the second floor and shows the periodical section of the library. The wall to the right of the picture has the artwork shown below

       I assume the artwork has some theme or significance but no one mentioned that it was anything more than just wall decoration so I cannot comment further on it.

At the top of the stairs was this nice librarians desk. I think this was a reference or information station as checkout and other functions were on the first floor. There was space behind the frosted divider for some computers and to the left an area that appeared to be a genealogy room. There were people in both the computer and genealogy area so I could not take pictures there. The pleasant and helpful staff emphasized that any photography could not include patrons. 

 

The second floor overlooked the Erie Canal as I mentioned before. Here are some other views of the canal area

 

 

This old timey looking tower is on the other side of the canal. When I was driving in that area I saw a sign which mentioned "the Coal Tower"  I don't know. Maybe this is the coal tower.  Anyway it made for some pleasant and interesting scenery for those who wanted a pleasant place to sit and read or just look out one of the several windows.

 A lot of libraries put in a fireplace. Some actually work with a gas log and others are just for decorative effect. The Pittsford library had this fireplace at one end of the reading area. I don't know if it worked or not. 

 The picture below gives some idea of the open and spacious feeling you get in this modern library. The picture was taken on the open stair case shown in an earlier photo.

Two other areas of this library were interesting. First the entrance to the children's area. I watched as children delighted in using the smaller "doorway". The children's librarian told me the stone archway was modeled after some of the causeways on the Erie Canal.  The stairs at the far end let children climb to the top of the "bridge" where there is a lovely dollhouse and some other children's toys.







The opening in the arch leads to the main library. The opening from the main library side looks just like the view in this picture but without the staircase and stuffed animals.

This large "tree" was another nice feature in the Children's section.  

 Looking beyond the tree you can just see the edge of the arch and farther into another room is a large mural. It was too large for either of my cameras to get it into one photo.  Perhaps you can appreciate the mural by mentally connecting the next two pictures.

There is a doorway to the left of the dinosaur that leads into an outside "reading garden".

If you look closely at the picture above you can make out the area where this picture, on the left, was taken. It is another view of the Erie Canal. Seems like an ideal spot to spend some time in a pleasant garden with a good book next to the historic Erie Canal.
For good measure there is also a water feature so you can hear bubbling water flowing over the rocks as shown below.

 One of the unseen things at this library deserves special attention. As in most libraries they have a group of people who work behind the scenes to raise money. They are known as "The Friends of the Library" and Pittsford has an especially hard working group. The literature they gave me tells of them raising $50,000 last year. 
      The day after visiting this library I went to an Antiquarian book sale and sure enough there were some ladies from the Pittsford Friends of the Library with a large display and busy selling books.

 Normally I try to end my blog of a library with something that is special about the library. I could not think of a better "special picture" than these hard working ladies willing to give up a Saturday to do all the preparation and set up at this book sale. A big tip of the hat to these ladies. 
     There are just two more things I must relate about my visit to this library.  One has to do with the title of this blog. "No Card For You!"   In addition to visiting libraries I also collect library cards. No, not active ones but just a souvenir card that is not entered into a library system and as such is worthless for any use except for my collection.  Some times librarians are reluctant to give me a card because it is such an unusual request. In fairness to librarians they have lots of rules and regulations from the Feds, their state, and especially the library board. I do not blame them for erring on the side of caution. But when I explain that giving me a card is no different than them losing one behind a file cabinet, etc , and that since it is not in their computer system I could not use it for anything except my collection they usually understand and provide me a card. The staff was very helpful but when the person in charge that day was asked they said they could not give me a card. The reason was they have to pay for those plastic cards and could not give me one.  It's OK. That is not the first time I have been told "No". I think it has happened 3 or 4 other times.  Each time I am reminded of the Jerry Seinfeld program where a man says "No Soup for you!"
     The second disappointment was that the Friends of the Library did not have a library bag. My wife has about 80 or 90 of them displayed along the balcony in the library room I built into our new house a few years ago. But the very nice ladies we spoke with were so anxious to help. They have new bags on order but the bags have not arrived. One of the ladies offered to give us her old one. Several of the ladies suggested we give them our address and they will mail us one when they are delivered.  That is probably the most fun in visiting libraries. We meet such nice people.