Colorado is one of those places I knew I would fall in love with. You get mountains, hot springs, canyons, rivers, microbrews, Topo Designs, friendly humans, and of course, really cool libraries. All in one place!
Ever since reading an article about a cycling library program at the Denver Public Library, DPL Connect, I’ve been eager to visit. While I didn’t make it to Denver this trip, I did make it to Boulder.
The Boulder Public Library is perfectly positioned along (and over) Boulder Creek with a stunning view of the Rocky Mountain foothills. A reading room stretches over the creek connecting the library and its Seed Library Cafe. It’s brilliant and I can’t think of a better place to curl up with a good book. We even took our fly rods down to the creek. No bites, but it’s not everyday a librarian can say she fished under a library!
Another thing that stood out was the amount of homeless patrons taking advantage of the library’s services. They were chatting with each other, reading, surfing the web, or just taking in the scenery. Observing this, I was immediately curious about programming for the homeless. After some research, I stumbled across an oral history archive on the Boulder Libray’s website. They have a series where homeless patrons are interviewed on a variety of topics, from musical instruments to addiction and treatment. The recorded audio is then posted for the public. So very cool. I’m such a fan of this library and how in touch they are with their community.
Bravo Boulder.