This week I visited the Main Library of the Upper Arlington Public Library on Tremont Road. Almost across the street in the Tremont Center is Chef-o-Nette Restaurant, a diner/family restaurant that has been in business since 1955 and is something of an institution in Upper Arlington. Since they serve breakfast all day, I had a late breakfast of pancakes and home fries before heading to the library. While I was there, two different classes came in from a nearby elementary school, and Chef-o-Nette serve them a Christmas lunch. When I went to the counter to pay my bill, I discovered their candy display included Pearson’s Vanilla Buns, a favorite candy bar from my childhood that I’ve only found in the last 20+ years in an Amish store in Holmes County.
The library was built and dedicated in 1959 as the Tremont Library branch of the Grandview Heights Public Library. In 1967 the Upper Arlington Public Library System was created, and this library became the Main Library in the system. The number of cardholders in the library system actually is about double the total population of the City of Upper Arlington, reflecting that all libraries receiving state funding must serve all state residents on an equal basis.
The library entrance leads to a spacious entryway between the New Books shelves (where I found John Sandford’s latest book, Bloody Genius, just out the end of October—Yay!) and the Avenue of Trees with Christmas trees decorated by local groups. Signs direct library patrons to vote for their favorite.
A little farther in there’s a well-stocked Friends of the Library Bookstore and then a large open space with various seating areas. The book shelves for Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction are on to the left.
Around to the left is the Circulation Desk (too many people for pictures), the shelves for reserved items, as well as one of the library’s three meeting rooms (along with a selection of framed art prints).
To the right is a hallway leading past a stairway to a lower lever and on into area of the library for children and youth. The selection of books for various ages is quite large, and I enjoyed browsing in the Chapter Books and the Picture Books.
There is a nice corner Activity Space with a colorful rug well suited for story time.
In the Picture Books section, I found a large selection of Mo Willems’ books and ended up sitting on the floor and reading three of them. Ever since my wife and I laughed our way through one of his Elephant & Piggie books at the Millersport Library Kiosk, I have especially looked for books in this series. (I Really Like Slop! is especially funny.)
There is a relatively small Teen Area (which I was unable to photograph because of the several teens who were using it). But the books selection for teens is quite large, and I was able to find two books on my Amazon want list.
On through the Teen Area there is a large room devoted to various recorded media for checkout, including a selection of old school vinyl records. There are also computer stations for library patrons in this room.
Down the stairs to the lower level (the elevator is out of service for the next few weeks), there is a meeting room, a small, 75-seat theater, a very large reference room with computers and a quiet reading area, and the Ohio Room with local history resources.
Along the back (south) wall of the open space in the Adult Section of the library is a very nice gallery display of works by local artists.
The Adult Section is dominated by and bright atrium-like space that runs the entire length of this wing of the library, extending to a wall of windows at the end. Down the center of this space is a long line of study tables, and to the sides are book shelves, with Fiction to one side and Non-Fiction to the other. I enjoyed browsing in the extensive Mystery section, and in the Fiction section I found two more books to add to the three I’d already picked out. I’ve been looking for Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Troupe for the past year, but so far I’d only found it in the downtown Madison, WI, library where I couldn’t borrow it.
Around the outside of the book stacks are several inviting places to sit and read or study—including both booths and tables along the windows of the north wall.
Browsing and exploring completed, I decided to sit and finish reading a book on my Kindle in one of the upholstered chairs by the windows at the end of the atrium space, with a nice view back up the atrium toward the circulation desk.
By mid-afternoon it was time for me to check out the five books I’d chosen and head for home. All is all it was a fine way to spend a cold, December Wednesday afternoon.
