Most Sundays from the late 1970s to early 1980s, when I was still unencumbered enough to skip down the sidewalk while directing a stream of uncensored dialogue toward my mother, we’d head to the Claremont branch of the Berkeley Public Library, empty backpacks in tow.
Once inside, the dense smell of hardback books, old redwood and quiet upon us, my mom would disappear into the adult stacks. Alone, I’d venture past the stout wooden filing cabinet containing the library’s very brain, the card catalogue.
Then, past the young reader biographies (which inspired book reports on Hank Aaron and Marie Curie), and up into the walled-off, elevated, carpeted children’s section. Here, was a place as magical and inviting as I’d ever hope to experience. Here lived talking dragons, child detectives and Judy Blume’s teen protagonists graciously showing me the way forward.
After amassing a pile of books to fill my backpack, I’d stretch out on the carpeted benches, waiting for my mom to find me, already lost on the streets of Manhattan traveling with Harriet the Spy, or in the barnyard stalls, in the excellent company of Fern, Wilbur and Charlotte.
The Durango Public Library, home to 27,000 card holders, has long ago exchanged the card catalogue for computers. But that’s not all that’s changed. Here are the things you may not know were happening at La Plata County’s largest library.
The third Monday of every month an informal, nontraditional public book club for adults, “Books and Brews,” meets at Animas Brewing Co. to discuss, naturally, books! This is a place to meet avid readers and get suggestions on titles you might enjoy.Year round, the library offers free weekly activities for tweens and teens, such as hands-on crafts, board games, Minecraft and cooking classes. All supplies provided. During summer, the library hosts two free events every Tuesday for elementary-aged children. Check durangopubliclibrary.org for details.Adult board game night is open to all who want to test-drive new board games with new friends. Board games and DVD players are also available to take home. Check the library website for updates on adult programming.The library coffee shop, Common Grounds Cafe, is a training ground for Durango School District 9-R students with disabilities, offering opportunities to learn and practice skills, preparing them to become active, working members of the community. Grab coffee and a snack while using tables in the cafe lobby to work, hold meetings or socialize. Doing research for personal and/or professional reasons? Access 30-plus databases from home. These include small engine repair, encyclopedias, language learning and decades of Consumer Reports. Need to print a few pages from home and your printer is on the blink? No problem, call 375-3380 for instructions on how to send print jobs to the library and pick them up the same day.Need a meeting space? The library rents rooms for small and large groups at a modest hourly fee.Darn, you pull up and park your bike, but where is your lock? Must have forgotten it at home. Did you know that you can borrow one from the front desk? Reading glasses? Headphones? The library has those, too, for use while you’re on site. Again, see the front desk.The library doesn’t forget readers who are unable to visit. They deliver materials and books to day care centers and preschools, as well as Sunshine Gardens and Four Corners Health Care. They also select and send materials to the homebound through their “Materials by Mail” program.Although the Durango Public Library serves all of La Plata County, regional libraries are available for the convenience of county residents. Bayfield and Ignacio residents have excellent, local libraries, as do Fort Lewis College students. Residents living near Sunnyside or Hesperus have their own branch libraries (respectively in Sunnyside Elementary and Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary Schools). I still visit my local public library with an empty and hopeful backpack. Now, I drop my kids in the children’s section to discover their own, modern magic, while I’ve assumed my mother’s role, slipping into the vast adult stacks, emerging with priceless treasure.
Rachel Turiel and Salye Stein co-wrote this column and are both Durango Public Library advisory board members.
