My First Love - The Public Library

Image courtesy of Unsplash by Eliott Reyna, @eliottreyna

Libraries always have been a refuge for me.  A place of limitless potential to whisk me away to another time and experience. 

To this day, I’m drawn to public libraries when I visit a new city. Props to Boston for a stunning public library - domed ceilings, John Singer Sargent murals, hearty wood desks with quaint, green reading lamps.*

When my nephew was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, during one visit, we spent hours reading in the peaceful calm of one of the many libraries on campus. And I was a frequent flier at my alma mater Grinnell College’s Burling Library.

My preferred study spot at Burling was on the fourth floor, deemed a “quiet” floor. There students hunkered down in individual desks that lined the perimeter of the floor, surrounding stacks of research materials.  My wish is always to go back to Iowa to spend time at Burling reading for pleasure, without exams and paper deadlines looming large. (What a dream!)

Yet my first library love was the Tottenville Branch of the New York City Public Library system. This was the library of my childhood in my hometown of Staten Island, New York.  Even as a kid, I recognized how beautiful it was, nestled among trees on Amboy Road, a main drag that ran through the southern end of the island.  The tall arched windows, the dark wood of the tables and bookshelves. The easy access to my favorite authors: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Judy Blume, Carolyn Keene, Beverly Cleary.  I can remember the library’s distinct smell: old and historic, yet not unpleasant.

Recently when home to see my family, I visited the Tottenville library – first time in decades. I’ll admit it smelled different, likely thanks to renovation in recent years. Yet it was just as beautiful as I remembered, albeit smaller. Or did I get bigger, perhaps? It was a heartwarming stroll down memory lane.

The Edgewater Branch of the Chicago Public Library has been my library home for the last decade.  It’s a different look and feel from my childhood library, but it evoked the same feelings: comfort in the neighborhood, books, and limitless opportunity for exploration through reading.

Blog post and Tottenville LIbrary photos by Michele Stauff
Co-chair, Book Sale Committee
Friends of the Edgewater Library

* Linked photo of Boston Library by Bob O’Connor from Boston Magazine article “Back in Circulation: How Boston’s Libraries Are Finding New Life.”