Back from vacation with a Denver library

I had the opportunity to go to Colorado with my family. It was JSM (the Joint Statistical Meetings – the big stats meeting my husband always attends) the end of July. This year, Denver hosted the convention. I was excited because I’d never been to Colorado. One of the fun things we’ve learned to do on vacation is spend an afternoon in the big city library.

Denver Public Library

The exterior of the main branch of the public library promised something cool on the inside. I’m not sure it fulfilled that promise.

Interior of Denver Public Library

Inside, it was four floors high, with a three-floor central arcade. Collections were off on the sides. There was teen space, but I was surprised at how minimal the YA collection was inside that section. Miss Adventure was looking to read some new Tamora Pierce our library system doesn’t have, but they only had two of her books.

Kid’s library

I did venture into the children’s section of the library, just to see what they had. It was definitely much more playful in that wing of the library. While the main branch of the Denver Public Library wasn’t the most exciting library we’ve been to (I think the Salt Lake City library gets that distinction), it had plenty of books to keep us occupied for a few hours as we relaxed.

Vancouver vacation

I am currently on our annual trip to wherever the Joint Statistical Meetings are. This year, we are in Vancouver. We’ve actually traveled here for that reason once before, eight years ago. The kids are eight years older and into much different things, so I’ve got a chance to see some different sights while we’re here this time. Of course, we must visit the library. As soon as we got there, I realized we visited last time as well. The building is quite memorable – it looks kind of like the Roman Coliseum.

There are shops in the side wall outside of the library proper. We got bubble tea before we went into the library.

Pride celebration is coming up, so there are rainbows throughout town. The library is on the left, shops on the right.

Not sure what the art out front was about, but it was cool!

The outer columns offered shade in a hot day, and the windows looked onto the library.

We spent almost an hour inside the library just chilling and reading graphic novels. It was a nice rest for our tired legs.

Schlow Center Region Library

One of the things I like to do on vacation is visit the library. It gives us a chance to sit in some peace and quiet. They’re usually air-conditioned and have free wi-fi. The kids and I can always find a graphic novel to read for an hour or so. Plus, they’re often interesting buildings. It’s an all-around win.

We were recently in State College, Pennsylvania and had an afternoon to kill while my husband presided over a Ph.D. defense. Off to the library we went.

  The library is pretty easy to find on a corner just a block or so from Penn State.

Inside, the library is pretty compact. They pack quite a few stacks into just two floors. This is a feature in the stairwell. If you look up, you can see a clock in the tower.

Lots of these square patterns found throughout the library. They had a nice sized YA section with some comfy chairs to sit in and read. We took advantage of them!