Corrales (New Mexico) Community Library

This library was an unexpected and very welcome surprise.

My wife Kathy and I were visiting her father and stepmom (pictured above) in Rio Rancho, NM, last week, and the plan on Tuesday (01/21/20) was to visit a nearby branch library in Rio Rancho. But first we needed to go to Blake’s Lotaburger for lunch. Blake’s has been a favorite of mine ever since I lived in Los Alamos, NM, from 1976 until 1988, and every time I return to NM I try get to a Blake’s for one of their scrumptious green chile cheeseburgers. As in previous visits we went to the Blake’s Lotaburger location in the Old Town area of Albuquerque (see blog post from Dec., 2018). And my green chile cheeseburger was outstanding… as usual. 

On the way back to Rio Rancho, we drove through Corrales, a small village of about 8,600 people north of Albuquerque along the Rio Grande River. Despite being surrounded by the rapidly expanding cities of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, Corrales maintains its rural character. It has an extensive system of irrigation ditches for small agricultural fields, and much of the village is heavily wooded with large stands of cottonwood and other native trees. The Rio Grande Bosque along the eastern edge of the village provides refuge for all kinds of native plants and animals. So we took a number of side trips on gravel roads along the way to see some of the cranes that winter over along the Rio Grande.

As we were winding through the village, my father-in-law asked if I’d like to stop and see the Corrales Community Library, and I’m glad he did. On W. La Entrada just off Corrales Road, the library is in a typical, rather unassuming New Mexico adobe building. But immediately upon entering I knew I was in a really special place. From the skylights and fish pond with plantings in the entry lobby, to the thick adobe walls and the hand-cut vigas and rough latillas of the ceiling, this library was truly enchanting.

The ceramic light fixtures (shown above) that can be found throughout  the older parts of the library are all from a local potter. The library describes itself as “the library that the people built.” Local volunteers made and laid the adobes, cut the vigas, and provided almost all the labor to build the original part of the library in 1979. Since then there have been five additions:  the Reference Room (1983), a new Children’s Room (1993), the office space and expanded portal (2001), a Teen Room (2006), and a Quiet Reading Room (2014). The small room just past the library circulation desk in the entry lobby shows some of the southwestern character of this library that really charmed me. I really loved the chairs and the kiva-style fireplace as well as all the artwork and the woven rug on the wall.

I took so many photos that I think I’ll let them do most of the “talking” to impart some impression of this beautiful library. To the right of the circulation desk, the doorway to the fiction section begins a loop around the library through many different rooms. All along the way there are many paintings, stained glass windows (between rooms as well as to the outside), and photos of Corrales folks who helped to build the library.

Here are several closeups of some of the artwork on display in the library. You might spot a some of them in the wider shots of the various rooms.

From the fiction section, a doorway beckons on to the Reference Room. The shelves seen through the doorway contain books in Spanish. And the doorway under the flower painting leads on to the Children’s Room.

A quick look in a small study room reveals yet more artwork on the walls.

The large L-shaped Children’s Room is bright and open with a colorful carpet and lots of floor cushions marking out a storytelling area.

The the other part of the room includes several computers, some more comfortable chairs, and shelves of resources for parents.

A large Teen Room extends beyond the Children’s Room.

The newest part of the library is the Quiet Reading Room, which contains both study tables as well as a comfortable seating area with shelves for periodicals.

Returning to the older part of the building, the loop brought me back to the entrance lobby.

On one side of the lobby are shelves for new books and on the other shelves for books for sale to support the library.

After a quick peak inside the computer room, it was time to move on to the Rio Rancho Library after this all-too-brief visit in Corrales.

I’d have loved to spend more time browsing the book shelves and then to sit in this library and read for several hours, but it was time to move on to visit the Rio Rancho Library. The outside of this library didn’t prepare me for how enchanting it would be inside, although the sign at the road might have given me a hint. New Mexico offers many such hidden wonders.

Not too far from the library we came to my in-laws’ favorite cottonwood tree. New Mexico is rightly called the Land of Enchantment.

New Albany Branch - Columbus Metropolitan Library

My library visits over the past 14 months have brought surprises, introduced me to a great many new restaurants, and taken me to places in and around Columbus I hadn’t been to in the 19 years I’ve lived here. For instance, I didn’t know the library branch nearest to my home even existed until I visited the Lane Road Branch of the Upper Arlington Public Library last January. 

Yesterday’s visit (1/14/2020) was more of the same—my first visit to the downtown part of New Albany and lunch at a new restaurant—the just opened Fox in the Snow bakery & coffee shop. It wasn’t the easiest place to find, since it doesn’t have a conventional sign out front—only a depiction of a jumping fox over the door as the photo below shows.  The menu is pretty much limited to pastries and coffee drinks, but there is a Soufléd Egg Sandwich and (after 10:30 am) a Ham & Cheese Baguette, which is what I had and thoroughly enjoyed. I should probably note that I went back later for a Pecan Sticky Bun (yummy) while I sat there and read for a while after lunch.

The library is part of Market Square in New Albany with Rose Run Park behind it to the north. A remodel is planned to add a second entrance to the rear of the library to link to the park as well as the New Albany High School campus on the far side of the park. This library branch was established in 1998 at the High School, and the current building was opened in 2003. In 2007, the building was named in honor of Charlotte P. Kessler. There’s a dedication plaque just to the left of the library entrance.

The view from just inside the entrance down the bright, high-ceilinged atrium space all the way to the rear wall is especially striking. A Mother Earth Glove sculpture hangs in this space.

To the right just past the Circulation Desk there are shelves for Holds/Reserves. The Homework Help and Teen Area are farther down on the right. To the left is the Children’s Area along with the book stacks for Adult Fiction  and Non-Fiction.

I headed for the Children’s Area, but first I stopped to check out the glass-enclosed Family Room where parents and children can spend time reading together.

The Children’s Area includes a large collection of children’s books around an open space with a sky light and a large decorative hanging. There are study tables and several child-friendly computer stations here as well.

I located a Mo Willems book I hadn’t read as yet, Are You Ready to Play Outside? While not as laugh-out-loud funny as some of Willems’ other books, I enjoyed finding a page that was emblazoned three times with my nickname.

The shelves for books and other media—first juvenile fiction, then adult fiction and non-fiction, and then recorded media—extend toward the back of the library. About half-way back, there is a gap with several study tables.

At the rear of this section of the library, there are racks for periodicals with several comfortable reading chairs, as well as an enclosed Quiet Study Room and a small Conference Room.

From the Periodicals area, I headed across the atrium space with it’s many computer stations for library patrons to get to the Teen Area with its age-appropriate collection of fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels as well as computer stations exclusively for teen use.

Toward the front of the library from the Teen Area is a large Homework Help area with study tables, computers, and the customary display of pennants from various universities.

Finished exploring the library as a whole, I headed back across the atrium to browse the fiction shelves in search of books on my Amazon Wish List. I keep expecting my searches to get harder as the months go by, but this week I quickly found five books on my list—two from the juvenile fiction shelves and three from adult fiction.

 

 

During my exploration of the library I’d spotted several likely places to sit and read. But I really like large wingback chairs, so I knew I’d found my spot when I saw several such along the far wall of the atrium with good light from the north-facing windows and a nice view back into the atrium.

After about an hour I’d finished one of the books I borrowed last week in Amanda (Stephen King’s Revival), so I decided it was a good time  check out my books and head for home. A new library in a new place, a new restaurant, and several new books to read—what could be better on a January afternoon?