During our “spring break,” I wrote up the results of a group discussion topic, did a budget revision, prepped two case studies for discussion, and finished up scripts for 3 presentations (2 short presentations + a short subtopic) for another group project. (I recorded the presentations the following week so that our “production” person could stitch all of our efforts together to make a ~45-minute group presentation.) I also finished our taxes and got my hair cut. It was a very productive week; it was *not* a spring break.
And I did a bunch of it while camping out at my local branch library. It’s a recent thing for me… not every day, but it’s happening more and more. If you had told me even five years ago that the library would supplant a coffee shop as my go-to spot for getting work done, I would have laughed at you. But the pandemic broke me of my coffee shop obsession; I learned to make good coffee at home, and the library is usually a more pleasant alternative than most of my local coffee shops — it’s quieter, less chaotic, more spacious, and more comfortable.
The branch I have been visiting most frequently has robust programming for young children and their adults, so it’s usually not quiet (I’m not sure the recent renovation included much sound mitigation), but it’s lively. I settle at a table away from the joie de vivre, put in my ear buds and listen to some music or a podcast, pull out my laptop (or notebook and a pen), and get to work.
Some other highlights of a recent visit:
Anyone with a uterus can relate to the first; I can think of a few times when I would have benefited greatly from having access to free menstrual products, and I would have been profoundly grateful for them. The yarn and fabric exchange is just a great idea. I think I have some fabric (and probably yarn) I can donate…
These, of course, have nothing to do with traditional libraries, but they’re really, really cool, and indicative of this library’s desire to serve its community in nontraditional ways. The class I’m starting to finish up this semester required some thought about how libraries are evolving to become more than repositories for books, and I see some of the initiatives I have been learning about in Spokane’s South Hill Library.
I am here for it.
[This is a branch library that serves one of Spokane’s older, fairly wealthy, neighborhoods. Spokane had a Carnegie library (that now houses an architecture firm), and the original Spokane City Library was on the land now occupied by the Central Library. The South Hill branch is one of five neighborhood branches. Spokane Public Library also supports two book kiosks, and a maker space.]
Carmen Yount 