I tried to visit the Bremen Rushcreek Memorial Branch Library in Bremen, OH, back in February—unsuccessfully it turned out, because the library was closed on Mondays. (See that blogpost HERE.) It’s the farthest library from my house in the Central Library Consortium at 52 miles, and I’d made the drive without first checking the library’’s hours of operation. (Bremen is about 10 miles east of Lancaster.)
Today I set out once again, this time knowing that the library would be open. Even better, the Bremen Drive In would be open for lunch, whereas back in February I had to settle for lunch at Subway. I don’t recall if the Drive In was operating in February or not. I thought at the time it was just an ice cream stand. But a little more research this time let me know I could get lunch there. From the somewhat limited menu I chose chicken strips and fries, but later in the afternoon when the temperature got up to 92 degrees, I returned for some of their ice cream, which really hit the spot.
The library’s address is on School St. in Bremen, and from the street side it is rather unassuming but clearly identified. But the library is much more inviting when approached on the other side from the parking lot.
I found the sculpture nested in a bush near the entrance of a boy reading with animals to be especially charming.
From the parking lot the library appears as 3 peaked-roof sections. A lower-roofed structure with the entrance doors connects the rightmost section to the other two. Directly inside the entrance is the circulation desk. To the right is a display of children’s picture books and a doorway leading to a large meeting room that has been repurposed as a children’s area for beginning readers.
I stopped a the book display and discovered that each of the books had a Vox Books unit attached that would play a recording of the book on a built-in speaker or through headphones. I don’t recall ever seeing one of these before.
The young children’s room has an open space defined by an area rug that looks like it’s for storytelling. The rest of the room has tables and easels for arts and crafts activities.
Returning to the circulation desk gave me a good view down the length of the library. The adult fiction and nonfiction books are on bookshelves at the far end. Shelves for children’s books are in the left foreground.
The children’s books section is on the left, and a half dozen computer stations are on the right. I stopped in the children’s section to read a couple of picture books that caught my eye—Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type and a wonderful illustrated presentation of the song Singing in the Rain illustrated by Tim Hopgood.
The dog sculpture mounted above the computers caught my eye. As I explored in the library I took note of quite a number of other striking pieces displayed on top of bookcases and on shelves up in various corners.
In the course of looking for some books to borrow, I found Cottons: The Secret of the Wind in graphic novels, Strange the Dreamer in teen fantasy, and The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. in adult fiction.
Books in hand, I headed to the far corner of the library near a fireplace where I could settle into a cushioned chair to read the library book I’d brought with me. I thought of how welcome that fireplace would have been back in February.
With school in session, the library was pretty quiet on this Wednesday afternoon. There were only a few visitors during the couple of hours I was there, although the librarian told me it would be a lot busier once school let out later in the afternoon. But before then I decided to check out my three new books and head back to the Bremen Drive in for ice cream. At 92 degrees, an Arctic Swirl with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup chunks in vanilla soft serve sure hit the spot before I made the hour and a half drive back across Columbus in rush hour traffic.
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