Whitehall Branch - Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML)

 

The Whitehall Branch Library is located in Whitehall on the south side of East Broad St. It was the second of the 10 library locations that have been renovated or rebuilt as part of CML’s Vision 2020 aspirational building plan. It was opened in April of 2015 and, at 20,000 square feet, is more than doubled the size of the 50 year old building it replaced. These new and remodeled libraries and CML’s commitment to serve the unique needs of the city's specific neighborhoods are a large part of why I decided in retirement to visit all of the area libraries.

As I drove up to the Whitehall library, I noted a historical marker just west of the library. So after parking, I walked around the library to the marker and found that it commemorates the site of Norton Fielld, the first airport in central Ohio. Norton Field was dedicated in 1923 with Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker in attendance as Columbus received its first airmail delivery. The airport was closed in the 1950s, and the land sold was off for housing development. The library was build on the last remaining large piece of open land that was part of the airport.

I continued walking around the library and then along E. Broad St. to enter from the street side. The many large windows highlight the striking design, which received an American Institute of Architects and American Library Association Building Award in 2017.

The library has two main entrances on opposite sides of the building. From the street-side (below left) I could see directly through the center of the building to the rear entrance (below right) off the parking lot.

The library has a very open floor plan with lots of natural light from all the many windows. Entering from E. Broad St., there is a large children’s area to the right (west) while to the left (east) is a large area with a great many computers and the book shelves for adult fiction and nonfiction. The library was quite busy on this summer morning, which made taking photos quite hard while still respecting people’s privacy. (In some photos I have blurred people's faces.

At the parking lot exit there's a long hallway off to the right that led to rest rooms as well as two of the larger meeting rooms.  The library has 5 different meeting rooms with retractable walls and ceiling mounted digital projectors.

I walked back toward the children’s area to I check out some of the new books displayed on one of the very striking circular bookshelf units.

As I walked eastward along the inside (south) wall of the children’s area, I noted a large Homework Help area and then a green wall which identified the entire children’s area as the Carol Snowden Children’s Room. Carol Snowden was the Whitehall Branch children’s librarian for 30 years until she passed away in 2008, leaving a bequest of $750,000 which provided for this room as well as a dedicated teen space. A Ready for Kindergarten area is in the corner of the room.

A second curved shelving with fun built-in seating helps to anchor the children’s area. A large group of children and adults were just finishing up an activity in the storytelling area.

There are computers for younger children in this area, including a table where the entire table top is a touch screen computer. The pair of computers by the windows with the great view of the E. Broad St. neighborhood were the only ones not in use that I could photograph.

Back toward the E. Broad St. entrance are racks for for periodicals around a comfortable seating area.

On the east side of the library there's a dedicated recording studio that can be used to create music, a podcast, or any audio production. It is immediately adjacent to the dedicated teen space that is set off by an amber glass wall.

Below is another picture of the very busy public computer area in the library—this one the view looking back toward the library entrances. The amber glass wall of the teen space is to the right in the distance.

Turning around and looking between the book shelves toward the east, I could see the glass-walled Quiet Room, which has comfortable seats and a gas fireplace.

Along the inside (south) wall of the large main room is a walkway lined with study and meeting rooms as well as a learning lab with computers. 

I did some exploring in the stacks, looking for books to borrow. Then I proceeded to the the very inviting area along the front windows that was lined with study tables and comfortable chairs. The abundance of natural lighting and the great sight lines throughout give this library a wonderful place to visit.

I did find two books to check out, but not in the general stacks. I found them on the curved shelves of New Books and “Quick Picks” near the main circulation desk. (Can you spot them on the shelf?) I’d been on the lookout for John Sandford’s latest Lucas Davenport novel, Neon Prey, and the title of The Library Book caught my eye. I discovered it's about a huge fire in the Los Angeles Public Library in April of 1986 that destroyed or damaged more than a million books.

After checking out the two books, I settled into a chair by the windows to read the book I’d brought with me and enjoy the view, but I ended up distracted by The Library Book and beginning it instead.

After an hour or so it was time to head off for lunch. As usual, I set out to find a place nearby in the neighborhood. It turns out that the nearest non-chain restaurant is a Greek place called The Mad Greek, where I got an enormous gyro with a side of fries. It was quite tasty and a great topper to a fun morning at the library.

Hilliard Branch — Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML)

Having been dedicated just a year ago, the Hilliard Branch is one of the newest branch buildings in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system. At 63,000 square feet it is the largest of the 22 branch libraries as well—at least in part because it was repurposed from what was supposed to be the community center building of a senior living complex that was never finished and was abandoned in 2009. As you can see above, the building entrance shows a lot of features of senior living community building.

But before visiting the library I had arranged to have lunch with a friend at the Starliner Diner in Hilliard. I had enjoyed eating at their old location on Cemetery Rd., but I’d not yet eaten at their new location on Main St. in downtown Hilliard (link). The rather plain brick building is not as funky as the old one, but the quirky interior looks much the same (as anyone who remembers the old location can see in the photo). More importantly, the food is every bit as good. I ordered from the breakfast menu since Starliner has frequently been named as having the best breakfast in Columbus. I had an excellent plate of blueberry pancakes, egg, and bacon. (It was so good, I forgot to take a food photo.)

When I arrived at the library I found that the the very large parking lot in front, which I estimated at more than 160 parking places, was almost full. This was by far the busiest library I have visited so far. There were people of all ages in the building, and a contact buzz of conversation could be heard almost everywhere inside. All 11 of the study rooms were in use, and people were using nearly all the seating areas. As a result it was really hard for me to take photos in some areas while avoiding showing identifiable people.

The main library entrance opens on a lobby area with the main circulation desk and a wood paneled staircase to the second floor.

Ahead and to the left is a large area dedicated for younger children. It includes lots of bookshelves as well as areas for Kindergarten Readiness and storytelling. My pictures do not do justice to how busy this area was with many children and parents.

On the other side of the main level there are three private study rooms, a cafe, a part of the library for older children, a large Homework Help Center, and a large community meeting room. The cafe area looked especially bright and inviting,

The older children area had shelves for juvenile books and other media and a number of computers for children 11 and younger. With all of the computers in use, I decided to limit myself to a photo of the sign.

As in all of the other new CML libraries I've visited, the Homework Help Center, the study rooms, and community meeting rooms have glass walls. (The Hilliard Room pictured below is actually on the upper level.)

Extending to the south on the far side of the building is a large room that was intended for a swimming pool for the senior living community center. The pool was filled in, and the “Pavilion” is now a large glass-walled space filled with natural light, chairs and a number of patio-like tables with yellow umbrellas. I decided I would definitely return here for some of my reading time in this library.

Having walked through the very large lower area, I proceeded to the upper level which houses teen and adult books, a dedicated teen area, eight more study rooms, a large “quiet room,″ public computers and two more community meeting rooms. As on the main level tables and chairs are scattered throughout the upper level, and there are also rest rooms on this level.

Toward the western part of the building, the shelves for books and other media are arranged between broad open areas on both sides. The north side has lots of widows, numerous seating areas, and artwork on the walls.

The teen area includes shelves of Y/A books and media, two banks of public computers, and a large screen television. I wasn’t able to take any pictures of the main room with public computers and printer/copiers, because nearly all of the computers were in use.

  
Heading back to the east, I I had a good view of several of the study rooms and the large Quiet Room off on the far side of the staircase.

A couple of things that caught my eye as I wandered through the Hilliard library:  a shelf unit of popular fiction and nonfiction devoted to books in languages other than English; and a lot of posters promoting this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, which offers prizes and other incentives for reading time by readers in four age categories—0-4, 5-11, 12-17, and 18+.

Having spotted the shelves for general fiction, mystery, and science fiction books, I went hunting for books to borrow. Since returning from my travels that included visits to two libraries in Madison, WI, and one in Malden, MA, I have not had any library books checked out. So I suppose I have an excuse for picking out four books from my Amazon Wish list to go along with the Y/A and the Juvenile book I had picked out earlier in those sections. (So once again I can commence playing catch-up on reading library books.)

I took my pile of books down to the cafe, where I got a Diet Coke and sat down at a table with a view of the lobby and staircase to finish reading my current Kindle book (James Grady’s Condor: The Short Takes). The Friends of the Library book sale shelves are there as well, but with six books in my stack I wasn’t tempted to buy anything.

When I’d finished the Kindle book (and the Diet Coke), I headed to the Pavilion to begin on the juvenile book—Michael Fry’s How to Be a Supervillain: Bad Guys Finish First. It’s hard to resist a story about a budding super villain who decides to opt out of villainy and become a librarian, only to discover that librarians are a kick-butt secret society who will stop at nothing to control—and shush—the world. (Michael Fry is co-creator and writer of one of my favorite comic strips, Over the Hedge [link].)  Here I am seated in the pavilion, and here’s the view I had before becoming totally lost in this very funny book.

Here are the six books I checked out. I have been looking for most of them over many library visits, but Octavia Gone is a just-released book in a favorite science fiction series, and The Glass Sentence jumped into my hands from the New Books shelf in the Y/A section. Thomas Perry is, perhaps, my favorite  writer of thrillers.

The Hilliard branch is a stunning, new library that would be an outstanding place to sit and read (or do whatever) on almost any day. Based on how busy it was today, people in Hilliard seem to think so too.