Too Many Words

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Have you seen the television series "Outlander"?  It's based upon the book by the same name, written by Diana Gabaldon.  (An excellent book, by the way.)  It's a 600+ page fantasy story set in another time.

One of our regular patrons came up to the desk this week, he was returning his copy of the book.

"I'd like to register a complaint about this book" he said.

"Sure, what's the problem?"

"Well, I've seen the series and I wanted to read the book.  I tell you, this book is a serious disappointment.  I was expecting action.  Lots of action, just like on television.  Instead, what do I get?  Words.  Lots of words.  Words describing the scenery.  Words describing the clothes.  Words describing everything and basically no action."

I was reminded of the opening scenes to Princess Bride, where the grandfather promises the young boy a story filled with action, pirates, and sword fights.  Not even a paragraph into the story, the little boy interrupts the grandfather to complain that there's not enough action, and reprimands him for reading him "A Kissing Story". 

I stared at him, speechless for a moment, not sure what to say.  He laughed and smiled, and then pulled out his library card and asked if he could "put that next book in the series on hold.  I want to see if it's got just as many words as this one does."

What a great guy!  (And a great book, too.)

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

The Enchanted Garden at Miller Library

I highlighted the inside of the Miller Library a couple of weeks ago.  There is another part of the Miller Library that is worthy of mention - The Enchanted Garden.  This garden is filled with plants that are native to the area, a garden, and is maintained by the Howard County Gardeners.  This garden is located off to the side of the library.  This is one of the two libraries that I frequent in Howard County.  Whenever I stop here, I make a point of stopping here, walking around the garden, and sitting for a while somewhere in the garden, spending some time communing with nature.  Come and join me in a quick stroll through the garden.

The entrance to the Enchanted Garden.

The view under the trellis in the garden.  If you hit this place at the right time, those tables and benches are full of people working on their laptops.

Heron water fountain in the middle. 

The arbor tunnel at the back of the garden.

The stream running through the center of the garden.

The view into the vegetable beds.  You can see the driveway and the street, just outside of the fence.

Check out the covers of the children's books in amongst the flowers.

A closer view of the vegetable gardens.

A pollinator box, surrounded by plants that attract pollinators.

The view from the back corner, by the vegetable boxes towards the library and the front gate.

Glenwood Library

This gorgeous little library is located in Western Howard County, MD.  Surrounded by farms and farm country, the library blends in with the farms and rolling hills in the area.  The architecture of this building has always reminded me of barns.

The outside of the library, looking at the main entrance.

The view just inside of the front door.  Look at those exposed beams!

The Information desk.

The view out to the back.  I love that large window wall!  That's the YA section in the very back, and a baseball diamond outside!  Just to the left, behind that wall is the Children's Section.

A view from the back right corner along the window wall.

The YA section.

The non-fiction adult section.  A row of computers to the right of me - magazines in front.

Mixed Media - CD's and DVD's.

The Information Desk in the Children's Section.  When this library first opened, the barn like structure in the back was used for story times.  The doors slide open, and contains an intimate space for storytime.

Study/Quiet area in the Children's Section.

The view towards the front doors from just outside of the Children's section.

Bear in a porthole window.