Wood Dale Public Library - part 1

Not long ago, I was lost in Wood Dale. This turned out to be a good thing, because I had the chance visit the Wood Dale Public Library for the first time to get directions. It's a small-ish library, all one-story.

As you can see here, by the front door, it is a new-ish library too. I am always a fan of putting the drop slot right by the front door too.

Just inside the entrance, on the right, is this TV monitor with the day's events on it. I've seen similar at a few other libraries now, but this one could win for being placed closest to the front door.

And I apologize for how blurry some of these pics came out.

This! This is the best thing I've ever seen in a library. From now on, I'm going to expect every public library I go to to have a free pantry inside, or know the reason why! This is a wonderful thing to do for the community. It is just inside the door so people can come in and use it without the shame of being spotted by a librarian.

I'm a big fan of wooden rafters, so I naturally like the Wood Dale Public Library. And naturally there was going to be a lot of wood inside, since it's right there in the name. Another thing you might notice from this picture, though, is that there are not a lot of windows -- or any natural light -- in this place. There are corners of the library that are surprisingly dim.

The library does what it can to combat the problem of shadowy lighting. You would naturally expect that here, in the bottom racks of the magazine section, but they solved it by giving each shelf its own overhead lighting.

And you can see how comfortable the seating looks, though I would personally miss armrests if using these for too long.

The meeting rooms are rather plain and nondescript. I did not turn on the lights in this room before snapping the picture, so all the light in this picture is coming from outside in the main room.

Polish must be big in Wood Dale and -- here's something I never thought much about before -- the sign for the Polish language collection is in Polish, just as it should be.

Now this one I really wish was less blurry, because I was so impressed by the size of their graphic novel collection. This is the Children's graphic novel section alone; there is another section this same size for YA graphic novel on the opposite side of the library. For a Children's collection that size, you might suspect (as I would) that a lot of not age-appropriate comics would wind up in this section, but it looked pretty good and wholesome to me. I can confirm that both Johnny Boo and Owly are represented there (and see my Roselle Library post now, where I take myself to task for having wrongly accused them of not having either!).