I attended the Festival of Homiletics (aka Preaching Conference) in Minneapolis last week (May 13-17). On the way there I stopped in Madison, WI, to spend two nights with my son Nathan. On Sunday, May 12, he took me out to see the sights, which included some of the new buildings at Epic Systems (see link) in Verona where he works and (not surprisingly) a local diner along with the Verona Public Library.
Epic Systems is a very large healthcare software company with thousands of employees and a very large campus on the edge of Verona. The many different office buildings are designed in a rather whimsical variety of styles, including a Farm Campus, a Wizard Academy, and a Storybook Campus. For example there are buildings based on the Wizard of Oz Emerald City, on Charley and the Chocolate Factory, and on Harry Potter.
One of the main dining facilities is styled after Charing Cross Station from Harry Potter, and it includes decorative touches like a real railroad car outside the building (and a great spot to eat lunch and relax), British-style phone booths, and a stack of “Left Luggage” in one corner (including an empty owl cage).
Epic is an amazing place with surprises around every corner. At various points we came across statues of all sorts of mythical beasts—like a monster emerging from a stream and a dragon on top of a fortress tower. Inside we found things like broomsticks circling the ceiling and odd little statues on staircases.
And of course any Wizard Academy must include some kind of library building. Here are a couple of photos of the main multi-story staircase (pun intended) in the "Library" office building.
After touring Epic and before to the library, Nathan and I stopped at Gus’s Diner in Verona for lunch. (Diners and libraries seem to go really well together in this blog.)
After lunch we drove to the Verona Public Library, which was built in 2005 in the Prairie School-style with views of Badger Prairie Park. Given that Verona is a relatively small town with an estimated population in 2016 of about 13,000, this library is truly remarkable. After stepping through the main entrance, I found the view to the wall of windows at the far end is stunning, especially with all the stained glass in light fixtures and the ceiling.
To the left are a very large Children’s Area and Teen Central. Both are colorful and inviting.
Ahead are computers for library patrons, shelves of recorded media, and that magnificent window wall looking out on the park.
To the right past the circulation desk are the shelves for reference materials as well as for adult fiction and non-fiction books.
There are study rooms on this side as well as a very inviting Quiet Reading Room with stained glass doors, shelves of periodicals, and an inviting fire in the fireplace.
And everywhere there are books, books, and more books.
Here are two additional photos of the Teen Central area and all the books lining its walls.
The very large Children’s Area includes play and reading spaces, its very own castle, a wall celebrating readers, and a separate room set aside for storytelling. Again, there are lots of books all around.
The Prairie School-style stained glass throughout this library is really wonderful. And I really liked that the book collection is so large. This is an amazing library for a small town.
Nathan and I had brought our Kindle Readers with us, so we settled in to read for an hour or so in the Quiet Reading Room. As an out-of-town visitor, I was unable to borrow any books, but I did peruse the Friends of the Library Book Sale shelves hoping to support this library in that way Unfortunately I didn’t find anything to purchase. Nathan did find several books to check out. All in all it was a wonderful day out together for us.
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