Love the library hum

We dropped into our local library and what a pleasant trip it was. We have a beautiful new library downtown and it's not the sort of place where you'll see "Shhhh" on the walls. It's had it struggles in the past few years but today it looks to be a vibrant and much-loved place.

Today, if fact, it made me think of a market. There was a pleasant hum as people talked about different titles or browsed the fresh selections and well-loved standbys on the shelves. At the self-serve check out stations people arranged their assortments of topics, ideas, information and entertainment preparing to take them home to savor. At the staffed check out counter, staff shared insights and tidbits about various titles people were sampling for the first time, or sharing from timeless favorites.

And in a delightful display, a woman of somewhat Reubenesque proportions reclined on a bench in the lobby, in no hurry to leave the novel she was devouring with a rather voracious appetite. I would have liked to have painted her.

Today was also a "wrap up summer" party, and a live xylophone performer in the courtyard played a pleasant counterpart to the planned children's activities. Open doors and sunshine made an inviting atmosphere where even the children negotiating "just one more book?" with their parents added to the flavor of the afternoon.

Mmmm ...