Last week the State Library held 2 Every Child Ready to Read workshops in the southwest and northern parts of the state. This means I got to visit 3 libraries I had never been to before: Hatch, The Public Library of Silver City and Taos.
First up, Hatch! The Library is located in an old train depot and they have kept many of the old depot items: the old scales, wooden sliding doors and signs.
Much of the decor is also centered around trains which is fun. The main part of the library houses the computers, adult and young adult collections with plenty of table space for study sessions, projects or library programs. Down a short hallway they have a dedicated Children’s space which is bright and colorful. The Director, Lisa Neal, took a space that had previously been storage and made it into a welcoming and fun place for kids in the community.
After Hatch I drove west to Silver City very much enjoyed the hospitality of the staff of The Public Library of Silver City. My favorite part of the library is the Lego table they have in their Children’s department (I love Legos!). Lots of great titles on the shelves and a sweet space for storytimes.
The main part of the library has 2 levels with the reference/circulation desk at the top of some steps with the computers and book collections on the bottom. Lots of windows make it a bright, happy spot with a lot of seating.
Late that week I visited the Taos Public Library (and I think my first trip to Taos…). I arrived to snow on the ground then experienced hail, thunder, lightening, rain and a rain/snow mix. Never can trust the weather in New Mexico! Their Children’s room has a wonderful nook where they conduct storytime and I saw lots of kids playing in. They have lots of fun posters on the wall (Frozen, superheros and all the Presidents!).
The Library was displaying a local quilting club’s work and they were all so beautiful! The meeting room even had quilts made by kids! Despite it being a gloomy, dreary day, the library was filled with people, reading in every space they could find. My favorite was the teens on opposite sides of the teen room reading on the floor.
Thank you to all the director’s and staff that welcomed me into the their libraries last week! I’m slowly marking off more libraries on my list, my hope is to visit all of them at some point!
