Tuesday, September 11, 2012

A Trip To Indian Orchard



So the plan for this weekend was to go to the bookfair held in Suffield to support the Kent Memorial Library. Alas that did not come to be due to tornado warnings in the area. With our recent history here concerning tornadoes I decided that driving a few towns away was not in my best interest (and yours my faithful following). On the positive side though this was the 42nd Annual Book Sale so I feel that there will probably be another next year.

It doesn't look like its in Springfield! A plus!
That doesn't look like its in Springfield! A plus!

So then, how in the world did I end up in Indian Orchard of all places???? I am sure that you deduced from the title that is where I went. Well it was a long and arduous journey, I finally arrived there to claim my prize! Yes, the Springfield Public Library had run a little contest on Facebook asking people to associate various fantasy locales with their parent books and stories. Well I added my two bits to the list of answers and I won. It was a moment of heartfelt joy. They said that they would contact me when my book was available and they did! It was good.

My Precious!

This little trip I have been planning for... oh.. two years I think. I tell you that it was well worth it. This branch in the Springfield Public Library System is a nice comfortable place to visit. That is what I looking for in a branch. Is it a comfy place to relax and read a book. Obviously, in these days of inter-library loans and statewide library collectives you aren't really going to judge it by selection. However, even in saying that I was very impressed by the media available there.

I am glad that they kept the old CCs.

The parking is on-street so that can be a little dicey, but on an average day I would say that you would be fine. It is located in a nice area of Indian Orchard. There are some nice shops nearby if you want to run out and get a coffee or grab some lunch.

I love paper lanterns!!

My only critique would be to get some larger reading chairs. Now I know the joke, haha, fat, lazy American can't fit in a chair. No, these chairs are small for an Asian middle-school girl. They are small. Move those over to the children's reading area and get a good man-sized man couch in there. That is my only critique. Aside from that the building is a lovely revival style building. It has modern amenities and is replete with artwork. It is a good, quiet reading environment.

Nice quaint atmosphere! I like it! I don't have a pic of the chairs though. Next time!

The building construction itself was funded by a grant from that evil, greedy industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The branch was opened in March 18, 1909 and has stood at that same location for more than a century. I could feel the history when I walked in. The grant paid for the Library Proper and three branches. The first of which was Indian Orchard. The second was the Forest Park branch. Now the third I can't seem to locate in my little bit of researching here. I sense another blog post coming out of this mystery.

Classy!

Here is nice link detailing the branch's 100th Anniversary !!
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