Libraries that make you want to do it in public

Reading, like sex, is -- in general -- a private occupation. However, just as we all engage in public displays of affection -- within reason (unless you happen to be a confirmed exhibitionist or a sociologist doing research) -- we also all engage in PDRs: public displays of reading. People can be caught reading in myriad public places:

• on commuter trains and buses (unless you're like me and suffer from gut-wrenching motion sickness);
•  in airport terminals (hence the rise of "airport novels");
• at the beach (hence the inevitable newspaper reviews in June promoting "beach reads");
  
• at the park (while their spawn engage in random acts of mayhem and violence both upon others and themselves);
• at Starbucks or local home-grown coffeehouses;
• in restaurants while dining alone (or when affronted by tablemates fixated on their smart phones -- which behavior may or may not count as reading... but that's a question for another blog post); and, amazingly enough,
• in a public library!
  

Yes, even with all the 21st Century bells and whistles of "doing" -- ("Don't just sit there," they seem to shout, "create!) touted by today's public libraries -- maker spaces, 3-D printers, Media labs, STEM studios -- you will still find people sitting and reading in a library, whether it's an old-school print, an e-book on a tablet or a blog accessed via a laptop.

However, not all library reading spaces are created equal. Just what turns a seating area -- a space with an arrangement of chairs -- into a great reading place, a spot that encourages lingering and where patrons feel comfortable enough to settle in for a good long bout of public perusing?

In hot pursuit of the answer to that question, I recently spent an afternoon checking out some of the best spaces for PDRs in the western suburbs of Chicago (as well as a ringer from the south side). Here, submitted for your approval, are seven wonderful spots -- one for each day of the week -- to curl up, stretch out, assume a fetal position -- whichever way you like to relax with a good book, in full view of the rest of humanity.

For Nature Boys (and Girls)

The best library spaces for public reading often include a link to the natural world, which provides relief for the eyes from the man-made constructs of fonts and graphics and a calm view to soothe a mind racing and wrestling with the words one has just read (such as the death of a beloved character, which, if you happen to be reading a George R.R. Martin tome, occurs at least once every 500 pages).

Wheaton Public Library
225 North Cross Street

This library is located just to the east of Adams Park and uses that to its great advantage in creating alluring patron reading areas on both its main and second floors. Both areas feature comfy chairs overlooking the green serenity of the trees and garden beds, as well as the paths that wind through the park. The second floor also has a Quiet Reading Room, which on select Fridays this summer, will not be soooo quiet. As part of the iREAD "Read to the Rhythm" Summer Reading Program, the library is running a "Quiet Music Reading Hour", from 3:30 to 4:30 pm, during which patrons can enjoy "quiet, wordless" music as a background to their reading.

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Elmhurst Public Library
125 S. Prospect Avenue

Another library situated next to greenspace, Elmhurst Public Library not only features a window wall overlooking soothing Wilder Park, but brings the outdoors inside with its lovely leaf carvings on the ends of its bookshelves. (OK, I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.) Ergonomic chairs, an airy ceiling, a "Silent Reading Salon," and a beguiling outdoor reading area with comfortable white benches set under the soothing shade of blossoming trees all seductively whisper "read... read here... now."

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Warrenville Public Library District
28W751 Stafford Place

Here's a gem of a library with the Illinois Prairie Path on its front steps and a fabulous greenspace called "The Commons" as its backyard. The area set aside for reading is not especially large, but it has great views and wonderful pendant lighting that enhances it cozy atmosphere. The evening that I visited a band was playing outside, a nice selection of dusties from the '60s and '70s. Sure enough, the library hosts "Concerts in the Commons" on Wednesday evenings during the summer months, which, depending on the type of music, might distract from your reading. On the other hand, it might encourage you to dance!

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Light My Reading Fire

We all know that a fireplace, lit or unlit, is just looking for a reader to pull up a chair and set a spell, and some libraries have capitalized on that to create a home-away-from-home atmosphere for their lucky patrons.

Sugar Grove Public Library
125 Municipal Drive

I have blogged about this beautiful library and its troubled history in an earlier post, but today I would like to feature its lovely, two-way stone fireplace, which can be enjoyed in both the main room of the library and a quiet room on the south side of the building. This is truly an all-season delight that entices its patrons to warm up or chill out with a good read.

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Tinley Park Public Library
7851 Timber Drive

I just had the pleasure of making a presentation and taking part in a local authors' expo at the jewel of a south suburban library a couple of weeks ago. It has all the bells and whistles of a 21st Century library with the charm of prairie-style architecture and design, stained glass, gorgeous lighting and soaring windows. And it has this absolutely fabulous reading area, which just makes me want to pull Anna Karenina off my shelf, hop in my car, drive 40 minutes and sink into a chair for about 8 hours!

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Elmhurst Library also has a fireplace, a glass-enclosed, eternal-flame type, which even on the summer day when I visited, drew a number of patrons around its dancing flames.

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Tech, Tech Baby or It's a Table... No, it's a Tablet... a Bii-iii-iii-g Tablet

Glen Ellyn Public Library
400 Duane Street

Here's another library with prairie-style architectural touches and tall banks of windows that give it a light, airy feeling. It's also located next to the Prairie Path and the Union Pacific and METRA West Line train tracks, so the act of reading here, punctuated periodically by echoing train whistles and signal bells, evokes memories of my childhood spent reading blocks away from the EJ&E line on the south side of Chicago. But while its sounds and welcoming reading area nestled under a gorgeous round window recall those old-school days, its most curious feature is a large interactive Samsung table-sized tablet outfitted with Microsoft Surface. It's loaded with games and an app that explores the universe. So if the book you happen to have chosen gets a little boring, you can always abandon it for a quick trip through the solar system.

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A Back Porch Where All are Welcome

Sugar Grove has another amazing feature that invites its patron to enjoy and engage in a  public display of reading at its finest: its back porch, called, yes, The Back Porch! Wouldn't your book club love to hold its next meeting on this baby, or perhaps in the reading circle in the midst of its beautiful garden:

So there you have 'em, six wonderful public libraries which have created amazing physical spaces for their patrons to engage in the act of reading in public, spaces that both foster a sense of community and security, that engage the mind and the heart with dreams and possibilities, and that enrich the lives of all who wander... and take their rest... in these places.

There's always another adventure waiting on a higher shelf...