Until last night when I began planning my visit to this Marysville branch library, I had no idea where Raymond, OH, is. It turns out it’s about a 35 mile drive northwest from my home to this unincorporated village of about 250 in farm country about 9 mile north-northwest of Marysville. According to Google there was an intriguing looking little restaurant in Raymond with really good reviews for its pizza, barbecue, and baked goods. Unfortunately when I arrived about 11:15 am looking forward to an early lunch, I found the restaurant had been closed for some months. So I headed on to the library, which is located in a small white house farther north on Main St./OH-374.
This library began in private homes and shops in 1923 with book donations from the entire community. In 1940 the Farmer’s Cooperative Creamery Building was donated, and additions were made to the building over the years. In 1964 the Raymond Schools and the Raymond Library were annexed by the Marysville School District, and it became the Raymond Branch of the Marysville Public Library. I entered the library from the parking lot and proceeded up a ramp to the circulation desk, where I was warmly greeted by the librarian, Mr. Chris Dillon.
As we discussed my library visiting project, Chris shared some of the history of the library and also told me I could get a good lunch at the Old Stone Haus Tavern in Broadway, a village even smaller than Raymond about 3 miles east on Ohio-347. He also told me I had just missed a class of 30 or so 3rd-graders, who had just visited the library from the nearby elementary school. Apparently each of the two 3rd-grade classes does this once each month. The room with the circulation desk contains shelves for recorded media as well as the children’s section of the library. Across from the desk are shelves for reserved books and new books.
An archway to the right of the desk leads to what looks like the original building where there are three rooms that make up the adult section of the library. I like the new Columbus libraries, but small town libraries have a charm all their own. I was quite taken by this small village library that receives so much local support. As I browsed the fiction shelves, I kept coming across books that were stamped inside that they had been donated to the library by community members. The first room contains the nonfiction collection, shelves of audiobooks, a section of shelves for teen readers, and three computer stations with a printer.
The Marysville Friends of the Library sale shelves are also in this room. I picked out a book from my wish list as a way for me to support this library.
Off this room there is a large reading room with shelves for periodicals, several comfortable chairs, and a video projection system.
The third room contains the adult fiction collection, and I really enjoyed browsing at length in all the shelves of books. Knowing that I had a backlog at home of books I checked out in earlier library visits, I limited myself to a single book to check out from this branch.
With my book find in hand, I returned to room with the circulation desk to explore in the children’s section as I tried to imagine the commotion of 30 3rd-graders in this space with its several sets of tables and chairs and a small storytelling area.
As I had in the adult section, I noted a surprising abundance of books available in this small local branch library. I really love finding and wandering in rooms filled with books.
A flannel board mounted on one wall caught my eye, as did one of the children’s board books on display. I was impressed with and charmed by how its bright, humorous illustrations and short rhymed couplets convey certain key feminist ideas—eg., equality, bodily autonomy, self-determination, and freedom of choice—in a way that is accessible to very young children without being preachy at all. It’s adapted from the author’s viral on-line “Feminist Baby” comics.
Having finished taking photos of this library, I headed for one of those comfortable chairs in the reading room to immerse myself in the book I’d brought with me for the day. I’d probably have stayed there well into the afternoon except for getting really hungry. I checked out my book, noting that the receipt said I had saved $1,998.40 this past year using the libraries (presumably based on the book list prices).
As promised, the Old Stone Haus Tavern offered a wide range of lunch options, and I ended up getting the Wednesday special, a chicken bacon ranch burrito with french fries. I’ll have to return sometime to try their frog legs dinner. I haven’t had frog legs in years, and I’ve never seen them on a menu in Columbus. (Thanks for the recommendation, Chris.)
After lunch I returned to Raymond so I could drive back to Marysville via Raymond Rd., which was every bit as lovely a drive as Chris Dillon had told me it would be. A new library, a new restaurant, and a pretty drive—what a wonderful way to spend a 90+ degree October day!
No comments:
Post a Comment