Reading Emily Toth’s The Public Library Was My Bookstore just reinforced for me that there is no greater public institution than the public library. As a child in Lynchburg, Virgnia, the public library was one of the few places my mother would allow my younger brother and I to walk by ourselves. When we were older, and our young niece and nephew would visit for the summer, we would literally carry them piggyback to the library to keep them entertained. My nephew who is now 30 with a child of his own still remembers those rides. Once I moved to the Boston area, one of my homes away from home quickly became the Boston Public Library.
If you are ever in Boston, please visit the main branch located on Boylston Street in Copley Square. It was the country’s first public library and remains one of its most important. It is an expansive structure that has evolved over time. In the “old part” you will find some of the most beautiful and unique art of John Singer Sargent. In the “new part” you will find the books and there amidst the shelves and sitting at the tables you will find the mix of Boston’s humanity – young mothers with children, high school students studying (kind of), college students researching, business people escaping the office for a bit, the homeless resting, people learning English with tutors, tourists snapping photos (without flash), and everything and everyone in between. It is an experience.
Words + Images 