Remembering

When I was young (1945-52) this was the main entrance to the Public Library. It was not handicapped accessible.  After you climbed the steps outside you entered through the doors and found yourself in an impressive atrium.  I don't suppose it was technically an atrium but it was a large open space within the building.  There were two staircases leading up to the main floor one on the right and one on the left. The three large windows provided light for the entry way but there was a twilight "brown" feeling to it and a nice echo that provided a spooky atmosphere. 

  If you walked straight ahead you  went down a short flight of steps and found yourself in the rest room area. I remember that in order to use the facility you had to go upstairs and get a key to open the  door.  Also on that level was an auditorium as well as some rooms in which we were not allowed.

 They held improvisation acting classes there one year and I can remember pretending to ride a horse and have to make up conversation as we galloped around the room.  I did not do well with that preferring a script. (Actually I felt like a fool.)

In later years the auditorium was converted to more stacks because the library had run out of space in the main stacks.  They were fun to look through to hunt for something to read.

After you climbed either the right or the left staircase you found yourself in front of another set of doors. Inside the second (main) floor was the circulation desk.  A long desk which ran the length of the room. The clerks stood behind it and you brought your books to them to check out.  Behind it were the stacks where books were kept.  These were (probably) cast iron and open. The shelves had a lot of open space so you could see who was on the next aisle.  You could climb the steps on either end to get to higher levels.

There were also a couple of meeting rooms on this floor.  They were long and narrow one on the left and one on the right.  I never spent much time there.

There were two other main rooms.  If you went to the right you came to a large room with tables and chairs and bookshelves about waist high around the walls. This was where they kept the books for the young people.  Older young adult books and reference books were here and the tables were for studying.  Going left you passed a diorama which they changed frequently which illustrated scenes from different books. It was fun to look into the window and pretend to be a giant looking down from above.

Moving on into the next room you found the little children's section of the library and there were also offices for the library staff.

If you had gone left when you came into the library main room you would pass into the Adult reading room.  I did not spend much time in there but I seem to remember that there were magazines and newspapers as well as books.

The library was a comfortable place to be and it had a nice "booky" smell to it.  I enjoyed it.  We could sit on the wide cement spaces beside the steps.  You can also see the drive up book return out in front.

From the Farwell T. Brown Photographic Archives

In 1985 the remodeled  library was dedicated.  It had the main entrance moved around the corner and an extension built on to the back of the old library.  It is now handicapped accessible and has a lot of space for the books (but they are running out and it will be enlarged again.)

I don't use the library much now.  For one thing it is really spread out.  They moved the new books to the back of the library and I don't walk well with my leg. AND when I get a book home and open it up it often smells of cigarette smoke because many of the readers smoke and the paper in the books soak up the smoke smell. As I quit smoking 15 + years ago the smell is very obnoxious to me and I don't enjoy it.  So I go to Books A Million and get the books that are on sale...you can get a hardback cheaper than a paper back.  Or else I order from Amazon.  Then I share them with friends.  Of course I have shelves of books at home so I don't usually run out of things to read.

But I am glad that they have the library and will support it because for me the library was a place I could go to learn and find things out.  Sometimes questions which I needed to have answered which I had no one else to tell me.  I will always cherish my memories of the Ames Public Library.