Driving Park Branch - Columbus Metropolitan Library

My goal in my first year of retirement is to visit every Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) branch as well as all the CML partner libraries in the metro region (a grand total of 53 libraries). When possible, I will also add library visits whenever I’m traveling out of town. For each visit, I try to eat lunch at a nearby restaurant, do some driving or walking in the neighborhood, spend some time taking photos around the library along with finding 1 or 2 book on my Amazon wish list, and finally to sit down and read for 1-2 hours before checking out the books and leaving.

This week’s library (#11) is in the Driving Park neighborhood of Columbus at the corner of Livingston & Kelton Avenues. Driving Park received its name from its historic past as a large racing complex, first for horses and later for automobiles. In 1905 it was the site of the first 24-hour auto endurance race in the U.S. Just west on Livingston from the library is the childhood home of Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI flying ace and Medal of Honor winner.

I stopped for lunch at Eddy’s Chicken and Waffles a few blocks east of the library on Livingston. The pancake breakfast was super.

Dedicated in the summer of 2014, the Driving Park Branch is one of the newer library buildings in the CML system (see article). From across the street, the striking architecture and all the glass lead the eye to the bright yellow entrance way. I was especially intrigued by the dramatic glass-walled space pointing toward the street corner.

Once inside, I discovered this wonderful space to the right of the front entrance is for children and the Ready for Kindergarten program. Just beyond that is an area devoted to Homework Help To And Through College.

Turning toward the other end of the library, I was struck by the many expanses of glass and the bright, open areas for books and computers. What an interesting library space!

I walked through the stacks and then along the windows on the street side. Down near the far end of the library I found a media area as well as several study rooms.

Walking back along the other side, I passed a Quiet Room, a long display of new books, and, on a slightly lower level, a reading area with newspapers. The third photo is looking back from a little farther down to take in all the angles and glass.

In the center of the large space are the book shelves and an abundance of computers—some in a glass-walled room and many more out in the open. These are amazing work spaces for people in the neighborhood needing to use a computer.

After walking around the library, I spent some time picking out a couple of books from my Amazon want list and then settled in to read for an hour or so in the tan chair with its back to the computer room (in the photo on the left). The photo on the right shows my view from there toward the street.

  
At some time while I was reading, two young men began a game of chess at one of the tables by the windows. I spoke with them, and they allowed me to take their picture. Then I headed to the circulation desk to check out the two books I’d found.

I recall something one of my favorite authors Ursula K. Le Guinn said in a speech celebrating the renovation of the Multnomah County Library in Portland, OR:  “A library is a focal point, a sacred place to a community; and its sacredness is its accessibility, its publicness. It’s everybody’s place.” This new building for the Driving Park Branch clearly demonstrates CML’s commitment to the Driving Park neighborhood.