Glenwood Library

 I stopped by the Glenwood Library in Howard County recently. It has always been one of my favorite libraries. I loved how they integrated the bucolic rural surroundings and used that in the architecture of the building. When I first went there after they opened, I felt like they had taken a farm, and tossed some of the typical architectural pieces you find around a farm and put them in a blender - which helped design this wonderful rural library that was incredibly modern with a bow towards the agricultural surroundings.

Fast forward several years, (has it really been 20 years since it opened?) and Howard County decided to refresh the branch. From new paint, to new ways of interpreting and using the space, the library looks beautiful. Not only did they update the building and add new technology, they did an excellent job of honoring the architecture of the original building and keeping the more iconic parts of the design in place. 

The result is an eye catching space that meets the needs of the community and offers the very latest in technology. They have added a fabulous maker space along the wall that used to house the magazines, and they have everything you could want to use but can’t afford to buy - laser cutters, 3D Printers, a Photo Preservation Station, a large printer that prints out banners, a recording studio, OZ Bots, Lego Mindstorms - the list goes on and on.  The pictures below capture everything. They’ve also included a dedicated space in the middle of the library with a hard floor where people can eat and drink away from the books and electronics.

I’d like to add that you do have to pay for use of consumable materials. That’s how the library can afford to have them. So, if you want to use a laser cutter on Walnut, you are going to have to pay for the wood. BUT - you aren’t paying for the laser cutter, and the prices are posted on the material samples in the Tinker Space.

I’m including the pictures below. I’m not going to add a lot of commentary, because I honestly think that the pictures speak for themselves. If you’d like to see my original post on the Glenwood Library from 2016, you can find it here:

https://mini-van-mom.blogspot.com/2016/05/glenwood-library.html

Savage Library

I posted these pictures back in April, but I'm posting them again!  I'm cleaning out the 3,000 pictures on my phone.  *sigh*  Some are being printed out as prints and put into an album.  Some are being deleted, and some, I'm posting on here just to make certain I've got a copy of them somewhere!  Enjoy!

Back in the spring, I stopped in at the Savage Library in Howard County.  When the kids were little, I used to bring them here for story time.  Especially Little Miss.  The librarian just "clicked" with my daughter, and she adored her and made many friends!  The library was remodeled several years back.  The building had been shared with the Senior Center.  A new Center was opened in the area, and the library expanded into the other half of the building.  I really do like the use of space.  What was a very dark, closed space has been opened up, lots of windows have been added, the service desk expanded, more computers are available, and the teen section is pretty phenomenal.  Even better, they have added a large meeting/auditorium space where the senior center was located.  It's a very light and airy space.  One thing I've noticed while visiting the Howard County Libraries is that they seem to be using a consistent color palette throughout their buildings.  So, while the buildings might be different from place to place, they have a consistent color theme that carries across all buildings.  I'm not sure how I feel about this - because it takes away the individuality of each building - and some of their buildings were designed by internationally renowned architects.  I like the individual personality of each building - I feel it reflects the community.

In the meantime, come venture through the library with me!  I found a new tool on my iPad that allows me to write on the pictures.  I've written on some of them, and I've blacked out faces.  (Just in case if you find yourself wondering what the heck is going on in the pictures....)

Reading corner back in the older children's area.

Check out desk straight ahead.  Picture books to the left.  Computers to the right.

Love that long run of shelves!

The carpet is great!  I think I've seen it in other HCL buildings. 

I entered by the check out desk, and turned left.  Wall is on my left - computers to the right, YA ahead.  See the stools on the left just before the open doorway?

THIS is the stools that were up ahead on the left.  Nice laptop bar!

The YA section.  I like the fact that there's a designated eating space right here.  No sneaking food in the stacks, no empty containers of food to find in hidden corners. 

And this is the hallway to the multi-purpose room.

More YA.  I'm very impressed with the size of the YA collection!

STILL in Young Adult.

MORE in the young adult section.

Looking back towards the children's section.  Years ago, the wall that divided the two halves of the building was just past the laptop bar - right where you see the wall jutting out.   AND, there were bookshelves everywhere, literally stuffed everywhere.

East Columbia Library

Years and years ago, this was our library.  I remember when this library opened its doors!  I don't think we even had 3 children at the time!  We were there on opening day, and for the years that we lived in Columbia, this was our library of choice.  It was a long walk away from home.  It took us about an hour to walk over there - around a lake, under a road, past a grocery store, and around some playing fields.  We'd make an event of these trips!  I'd load the books up into the stroller and off we'd go.  We got there in time for story time, and then we'd pick out books, roam around for a little while, and then head back home.  We'd stop at the grocery store and pick up something for lunch - usually hummus and carrots or something like that.  We'd journey under the road and stop by the playground next to the lake, where we'd eat our lunch and play on the playground.  We'd then wend our way around the lake towards home, where three exhausted kids would fall into into a very exhausted afternoon nap almost as soon as we walked in the door.  Oh!  The memories!  Those were wonderful, wonderful days!  I didn't realize how much I missed them until I was roaming around here today.  The kids are all grown up now, but those were bright, wonderful days full of innocence and joy!

I was back in Columbia this week, and I took advantage of the opportunity to stop by the library and reminisce.  Some things have changed, and some have stayed very much the same.  

Are you ready to look at the library?

This is the view coming up from the soccer fields.  The community pool is to the right, and there's an elementary and middle school located just beyond the pool.  This side faces the parking lot.

A better view of the front doors.  The Senior Center is located in this building, too, just to the left as you enter the doors.

The adult reference desk is located just inside of the front doors.  (I can't imagine how cold this is in the middle of January!)

The Learning Commons.  This has changed since we lived here.   I love the new set up with the tables and the lamps!  It's much more intimate and feels warmer than the long rows of tables with the computers lined up.

Fun Fact: When the internet first became a "thing" back in the late 90's, I was a stay at home mother with three young kids.  I knew I was going to need to know how to navigate the internet in order to reenter the work force down the line.  Guess where I took classes to learn how to surf the web, navigate the computers, work Windows 95, and learned about Linux based operating systems?  This library, right here.  They had the long rows of tables then, and there were 4 or 5 of us in most of those classes, with one librarian helping us learn to navigate the intricacies of the web.  Thanks so much Howard County Library!

I still love this long view down through the Young Adult books!  That's a quiet study room at the end of the view.  It's got doors, tables and chairs, and outlets.  It's a pretty nice space!

That's the adult fiction section straight ahead.  I would make a beeline here with the stroller to pick one book for myself before heading over to the children's section.  Can you see that glass wall to the left, just behind the pillar and the arm chair?  That's another quiet study area.  Sorry I couldn't get a picture of that, but there was somebody working in there. 

This globe.  I can't tell you how glad I am this is still here!  We spent a lot of happy time here, looking at our world and investigating countries.  We'd find a country we wanted to know more about, and then we'd go search through the non-fiction books, find a few books about that country and check them out!

Along the back wall.  This is the individual/quiet study area.  Just behind me is the group study area.  Believe me, there were a lot of groups working back there!  Every single table was taken by at least two people, and there was a LOT of collaboration happening everywhere I looked!

Still my favorite walk!  From the central portion of the library, down the hall to the Children's Section!

The computers in the children's section.

Group study tables.

THESE!  My kids loved to curl up in these and read a book!

This was the original story room.  I remember going in here with the kids!  By the time my kids were out of preschool, the library was handing out tickets to get into story time in this space.  Not too long after, they moved the story times into the group meeting room.  When I walked past, it was packed!

The baby play area.  Lots of toys for little friends live back in this corner!

If you'd like to find out more about the East Columbia Library, you can visit their website here:
(And  you can see the awesome picture of the exterior of the building along the street.  Gorgeous picture, taken by a professional photographer!)

EAST COLUMBIA LIBRARY

Miller Library

There is a gorgeous piece of architecture in Howard County, MD known as the Miller Library.  Years ago, the Miller Library was housed in a 1970's era building.  They quickly outgrew the space, but the librarians boldly mustered on, squeezing every last inch of space out of that building before the new building was built adjacent to the old building.  This new building opened in 2011.  It's a gorgeous, state of the art facility that ties together books and modern technology in one seamless building.

I was looking through old pictures today, and I realized I had never posted the pictures that I took when that branch opened.  (You know I was there within the first week after they opened their doors, right?)  These pictures are from that first week in 2011.  I'm going to stop by either sometime this weekend to get updated pictures of the front of their building.  It is gorgeous at night.

Of course, you could always just stop by their website, and look at the pictures the Howard County Library system has posted of their building.  I especially love the picture on the page I'm linking to... Taken at night with the light shining through the windows like a beacon to the community the picture perfectly captures the promise of the treasure held within.
 
The Miller Library is a two story building.  Downstairs, you will find the media collection (DVD's, Books on Tape/CD, and Play Aways), computers, quiet study areas, meeting rooms, and not so quiet study areas. You'll also find the Children's and Young Adult collections.  Due to the large volume of people, I only had a couple of pictures of the downstairs that don't show faces...  It's a very heavily used library!

This picture below is my favorite part of the children's section.  It's a window, overlooking the Enchanted Garden.  The window has a large seat where children can sit and read, as well as look outside.

The picture below is from the inside, looking out at the Enchanted Garden.  I've taken a couple of classes in the Enchanted Garden.  It's a community garden tended by the Master Gardeners, and it has a little bit of everything.  Since this picture was taken in the first week after they opened, there wasn't much there.

The grand staircase from the first floor up to the second floor.   The second floor houses the library for the Howard County Historical Society, more study areas, study rooms, and the adult fiction and non-fiction collection.  The area along the back wall is all window, and looks out over the green roof below. 

Entrance from the grand stair case into the reading room.

I love that stone wall!  Do you see that glass wall in the back?  With the double doors?  That's the exit out onto the roof top for a portion of the first floor.  This is a green roof.  There are box gardens on the roof.  The purpose of the gardens is to pick up water when it rains and lessen the impact of storm water run off.

Look at all of those books!

 Look at that beautiful sight!  Books ready to be checked out - shelves that are only half full - meaning that books have been checked out and are in the hands of the community - right where they belong.