Fashion

Library Lady

October 27, 2015

Three months in, and I’ve really loved living in Arizona.

My one complaint has been the library nearest us is. . . well, pretty lame.

I didn’t realize how spoiled I’d gotten with the good libraries everywhere we’ve lived.

Durham, especially, had a killer library close to us with tons of programming (preschooler science projects, Lego club, music time, story time, craft time, etc), two librarians that Ella and Ani absolutely worshipped (shout out to Ali and Margaret!), a train table, unlimited coloring sheets and crayons, and pretty much every book I wanted with plenty of holds and checkouts.

When we went to the library here for the first time, Ella looked around and said, “Where is the children’s desk?”

Turns out there wasn’t one.

Programming? One story time a week. That you had to register in advance for.

Instead of begging to go to the library as they had in the past, my girls complained when I said we needed to stop by to pick up my (enormous) stack of holds.

Finally, one afternoon when I had only Ella with me, I decided to drop by the next closest library to me.

Frankly, neither library is particularly close to us, so this one was only a few extra minutes farther.

Ella was entranced. There was a huge children’s section (with the computers tucked way off to the side instead of the main attraction, which was killing me at the other library and the cause of several “dragging-a-screaming-Ani-from-the-premises” incidents).

There were three or four times as many books, there was a dedicated children’s programming room, and there was a big section with blocks and low bookshelves, plus rocking chairs for the grown-ups.

A week or so later, I took all my girls there and we spent more than two hours while they built block towers and I read them board books in between popping in and out of my own book.

The next time we went, the weather was beautiful and my girls spent an additional 45 minutes running around and playing made-up games on the large front lawn.

After a few visits, I discovered that right next to the library is a huge nature preserve with walkways, ducks, turtles, and beavers, plus a little playground. When Jessica and her girls came to visit a few weeks ago, we packed our two little bikes and two little scooters and the girls had a fantastic time riding all over the preserve.

I also discovered on that trip that there is a Bosa Donuts just around the corner where you can get a bag of very delicious donut holes at the whopping price of 99 cents a dozen. I’m not sure if this is a good discovery or a bad one, but it’s made for a fun end to our library trips since then.

You can pretty much bet I’m never going to that other library again if I can possibly help it.

And now my girls are delighted at the prospect of going to the library again (although they always ask worriedly, “Are we going to the good library or the bad library?”).

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23 Comments

  • Reply Elaine October 27, 2015 at 11:59 am

    I'm glad you've found a library you can call home!

  • Reply Shanté October 27, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    When we lived in AZ the Mesa library was just depressing. It made me depressed. It was so gloomy inside and there was never a librarian in the children's section, and the one time I saw one she gave me the cold shoulder…but I went the story time in Tempe and it was so fun. We'd drive 20 mins just to go every other week, usually after we hit up the zoo (what I miss most about AZ). In Florida we had an awesome library. We spent hours there every week. Here in Charlotte, I have a hard time convincing people that story time is actually fun, and that the library is more than just books.We have a cool uptown library, but the storytime is SO dry. The worst. I'm glad you found a good one!

  • Reply Kate Unger October 27, 2015 at 1:10 pm

    Awesome! So glad you found a better library. That's such an important thing to have in your life. I love our library.

  • Reply allie J. October 27, 2015 at 1:50 pm

    Thanks for the shout out 😉 I'm happy to hear y'all have found a better library, that nature preserve sound wonderful!

  • Reply Jessica October 27, 2015 at 1:51 pm

    I'm glad you found a "good" library. It does make a huge difference. When we moved recently, I was dismayed to walk into our local library. It was dark and dingy and the children's section was puny. I was so happy to hear it was going to be renovated, my kids were too!

  • Reply Jenae October 27, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    We love the riparian preserve next to that library! I've never actually been into the library though. I'll have to check it out next time we are there.

  • Reply Paige Flamm October 27, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    Good libraries make such a huge difference! All the library branches here in Georgia are pretty "meh" in terms of being fun. The two branches closest to us (both two miles from our house), are terrible, and there is one across town that's decent… but driving that far just for decent isn't really great either! Luckily I think we still have three more branches kind of close to us that I have to check out still, but even when I go to get holds online, half the time all the libraries never have the books. This would be why we've bought probably twenty new books since we've moved here haha.I would rather have one really great library in town instead of having six different branches that are all horrible.

  • Reply Unknown October 27, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    When we moved 3 years ago, one of the first things we did was to go to the new library. It was a one story building as opposed to our old one that was two story with a basement. My 6 year old asked, "Is this it?" I didn't want to ask the librarian if there was actually more to the library than we were seeing. I found an evacuation map on the wall and then I knew, that this was it.
    In the last 3 years our new town has grown a lot and the library is obviously too small. I'm hoping that they will be able to expand.
    For what it is, it's pretty great though. And the librarians are all very nice.
    Your new library sounds great! So glad you found one that works for you. A great library is essential!

    • Reply Krista October 27, 2015 at 8:23 pm

      I don't know why it posted as Unknown. My name is Krista.

  • Reply Madame Coin October 27, 2015 at 6:29 pm

    Lame libraries are, well, lame. I still feel angry and sad almost every single time I walk into my local library branch. I'm so glad you found a nice one!

  • Reply That Girl October 27, 2015 at 10:05 pm

    Guessing you went to Perry first, then Southeast Regional?? ;o)

    Still say you've gotta check out Queen Creek. Their children's section is enchanting, and there are tons of children's programs.

  • Reply Annette October 27, 2015 at 11:31 pm

    Good libraries make a huge difference in settling into a place!

    Doughnut holes help, too.

  • Reply Annette October 27, 2015 at 11:31 pm

    Good libraries make a huge difference in settling into a place!

    Doughnut holes help, too.

  • Reply Kristie K. October 28, 2015 at 5:02 am

    We like that library too! And we love that nature center. They have a cool astronomy night once a month. We loved it!

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  • Reply Pienkel October 28, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    Ow, that good one sounds awesome! Unfortunately, there's only one teenytiny library on the island where I live, with a very limited collection, open only a few hours a day. I really miss the city libraries from my time as a student…. However, once I do get hold of a good book, I live in a beautiful place to enjoy it 😉

  • Reply Julia Manfredi-Hobbs October 28, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    Hooray for "good libraries" ! We love ours, too. We even have our own "favourite chair" to seat and read (which, by the way, I want to buy for my own home LOL).

  • Reply sheree*lynne October 29, 2015 at 11:30 pm

    Glad you found a good one- I'm still searching for the best one in Tucson. And Bosa has ruined me for all other donuts….I'm a Bosa snob now!

  • Reply Meghan November 10, 2015 at 1:00 am

    Glad you found a library you like. 🙂

  • Reply Liz Campagiorni November 13, 2015 at 4:11 am

    Adjusting to our small town somewhat Lame library has been difficult. We also have to register for story time. Plus, I have a hard time finding the books I want because of the limited collection. However, we do have an amazing summer reading program for all ages, this past summer my 1 & 1/2 year old and I both won prizes. I'm glad you found a library that the girls enjoy going to again, thankfully my kids have no idea how amazing our old library was, so they love going to the library here.

  • Reply Lacey December 31, 2015 at 3:37 am

    We love the queen creek library! The summer reading program and shows are awesome! And the storytimes are great with the sweetest librarians! We are there atleast twice a week! Southeast is great too!

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