Library of the Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Library of the Year

2002

 

 

 

WHAT IS THIS?

 

  

A.  Part of the space station circling earth? 
B.  The inner workings of a robotic eye??
C.  A four story high part of a library?
D.  None of the above.   

Logically, since this is a blog on libraries, the picture must have something to do with libraries. But the rational side of our brain cannot connect the picture above with anything we have ever seen in a library.
     When you walk in the door of the Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL) on Rose Street you will see this four story high structure that lights up the glass panels. I don't understand all the workings of this sunlight driven display but here is the architecture that makes it possible.

     It all starts 80 feet above the ground floor with a skylight.  The rainbow effect is created by the holographic panels that line the inside of the skylight. Although my camera thought the ceiling was black it really wasn't. (see below)

Glass panels below the skylight catch the "rainbow" and glow in various colors.  The glass panels shown to the left are part of a large domed structure.


The picture below was taken from the balconey outside the administrative offices, 3rd floor.  



Below the dome is a circular opening in the second and first floors for light to shine all the way to the lowest level.

 

Peeking over the edge of the dome we can see the second floor with rows of computers and access to other parts of this large library.

Moving down to the second floor we can see the bottom side of the dome of glass panels.



 


And overhead there is a multi-colored display..

Here is a view from the lowest level looking at the tables on the 1st floor with the opening to the 2nd floor above.



Now the picture above makes some sense. We can see the opening in the second floor and the thin
white ring is the opening in the top of the dome of glass panels. I know what all the parts are but I still don't understand how it all works. But I don't need to. I can just enjoy how it looks.
     While the light display is huge and fascinating, it is not the most important part of the library, and it is not the reason KPL was selected as the Library of the Year in 2002. There were three factors that judges considered when selecting the library of the year.
     1. Service to the community
     2. Creative and innovative community programs
     3. Leadership in creating programs that other
         libraries can use.
The Central library has several well done programs in operation, such as the Local history room. 

The genealogy collection is housed here. This section was recently redone. The collection is unusually large compared to other similar sized libraries. Here are cabinets of Microfilm of years of local papers, county records and shelves of books that include other counties and other states. The common sense organization makes retrieval of information very easy.

Attractive book cases hold the large collection of genealogical and local history books.

 If you noticed in the earlier picture of the Local History Room there was a man seated at a desk. His name is Jerry and he is one of the reasons the KPL is such a great place.  I asked a question about my family surname and he roared into action. Within a few seconds he had located a dozen or so names of people I wanted to research. I did not know there were any of my family in the Kalamazoo area. He demonstrated how to locate references and use the Microfilm. He found books, made several good suggestions and stayed 15 minutes past his time to leave to be sure I was able to access the information I wanted. Somebody at KPL should give Jerry a pat on the back. During my time at KPL I found the same helpful attitude with any of the staff I met.
       The children's library was wonderful. I found
many fun things to photograph.

 There are lovely stained glass hangings in the windows.

Turning structural columns into trees is always fun. But I had never seen Jack in the beanstalk with a giants boot coming through the ceiling.

 This gate way was a fun addition. The pink stone look was repeated in other places.

Next to the Queen of Hearts chair...

...and by wall pictures of fairy tales... 

 

...and even by these lions guarding a window.

The colorful "story Hour" room caught my attention as I walked by. There were many small, simple, but lovely touches to this well done Children's library. 

I nearly missed this brass turtle. His bright shiny back indicated children enjoyed riding on him.

This whimsical snail lives on top of a bookcase. He is also cast bronze, and typical of so many other things I did not photograph. The staff here was enthusiastic about what they did and anxious to show me so many nice things.

Another excellent feature of the Rose Street KPL is the used book store. I bought three books here, my wife bought one and I think it cost a total of $5 or $6 dollars. Instead of a single shelf for used book sales this library has an entire room filled with shelving.

Part of the used bookstore.

Art is everywhere in this library. I nearly walked by some of it. Here is a wall hanging I passed several times before I realized I needed to take a picture of it. It hangs in a stairwell.



More art work

 

 This stained glass panel was saved from one of the previous libraries. The history of this library can be found at
http://www.kpl.gov/local-history/library/history.aspx

One of the reasons Kalamazoo has such a great library is the people of the area. They have been willing to roll up their sleeves and get things done. Few people know that the first free High School in the United States was started in Kalamazoo. The picture below was taken from the library and is of a building nearby. It's message is both a reminder of what happened here and an answer to why this town has such a great library. 

As the Title of my Blog suggests I collect Library cards. Here is the one I received from the kind people at KPL.

 

 

I would like to express my appreciation to all the people who provided information for me and assisted me in my visit to the Kalamazoo Public library. 

 

This last picture was hanging on a wall in the library. It caught my attention and I looked at it for a while. I think if the young girl is from Kalamazoo, she is looking into the future and thinking. Spend a few seconds looking at it and consider what you think this picture says.

 

"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.