LIBRARY #4 - FAIRWOOD

Home base! We stopped at our much-loved, local library on the way home after visiting the Renton Highlands branch on Saturday, 8-6-11.

Our library was renovated not that long ago. One of the things we've always loved is this big window The kids are posing out in front of it, then the pictures are inside seated in that window! I usually sit here and read if the kids feel like playing on the computers because I can watch them from here. We all like to sit on the comfy couches and in the comfy nooks to read. LaDiva is demonstrating one of the various ways you can enjoy a book in the Fairwood library! Fairwood, oh Fairwood! We love it so!!

So far, I think Fairwood has the best furniture!

LIBRARY #3 - RENTON HIGHLANDS

This VERY tiny library used to be a part of the Renton City Library system. I used to ride right past it every day on my way to McKnight Middle school -about a zillion years ago!
The Kids were surprised by how tiny it was but quickly got over that and enjoyed playing the with fun things in the kids area and choosing books.
Little G was a little put out because the computers with the kids games weren't working but, he soon got busy reading a "Star Wars" book that made him happy!
I made up little cards that I started handing out at this library to the most friendly-looking librarian I can find! Just so they know why I'm in the library taking pictures! This librarian was VERY nice and we had a fun conversation about our quest. I think the current KCLS plan is to build a new Renton Highlands library. They could probably use more space! Though it was bustling and people seemed to enjoy this pretty little place! La Diva really liked the way the "chapter books" were displayed in the Renton Highlands. They were very accessible and she had more fun browsing here than probably any of the other branches we've visited so far!

THE FIRST 4 - KIDS VIDEO JOURNAL

As you can see from his FIT, initially Little G was NOT having fun participating in the video journal. (It was because his sister was hogging the camera.) I think they sorted out their differences, here it is -in their own words- a video journal of the first four libraries.

LIBRARY #2 - BELLEVUE

One of my earliest memories was the Bellevue library in a dark, old, church-y looking building on Main st (kind of where the Toys R Us parking lot is now.) I was TERRIFIED of the stairs there and the kids books were at the top of the stairs!
Then the Bellevue library moved to a new, modern building. It was still on Main but on the East side of I-405. The Bellevue & Newport Way libraries were the ones I went to when I was a kid. Most specifically Bellevue because I could hop on the 240 Metro bus and go by myself! My Mom worked for a periodontist nearby and in the summer I'd meet her for lunch and then spend most of the afternoon at the Bellevue library.
I'd never seen the NEWEST iteration of the Bellevue library until I took the kids on 8-5-11. It is ENORMOUS! The biggest ever! 3 stories of books, videos, music & reference materials PLUS a parking garage! Wowie!
We looked at all the amazing ART in the main hallway and then went into the main library! The kids were flabbergasted! I know it is the biggest library they've ever seen!
We have snack machines at the Fairwood library but not a nifty little area, like they have in Bellevue. I don't believe I've seen anyone eating at our library, but I saw a couple noshing on Blue Diamond almonds at this one. Very homey to be able to hang out and read and snack.
The kids loved the "castle" seat and had to vamp it up for a photo. Next it was on to some SERIOUS book-lookin'. I like to pick up books on collage and creating altered books. LaDiva likes non-fiction dog books and dog stories. Little G likes just about anything that catches his eye. He's a slow reader still but he will look at pictures and read captions to the best of his ability and will read out loud to us while we're in the car.
Up on the 3rd floor, I left the kids in chairs with their books while I was in an aisle, looking. The librarian couldn't see me, watching them but she saw Little G get out of his chair and look over the rail. I heard a loud "NO" and went over to find a red-faced little guy and a librarian who apologized. She thought he'd been planning to throw something over the rail! (That must happen a LOT there, I'm guessing!) No harm done but he was READY to move out the darker stacks and get back down to the light n' airy kids department!! While they played on the computers, I read and then ran into a former co-worker, his wife, kids and two DAY old baby! Amazing. They were out and about with that brand-new person! I'm working on editing some video that I took of the kids talking about our adventures! That'll probably be what I post next . . .

THE SERVICE CENTER

Leaving Issaquah, we headed out Newport Way to get to I-90; I was feeling brave for 3:40 on a Friday afternoon! When I saw the KCLS Service Center I knew we had to stop! The kids were mortified! NO WAY they were going in that place. That is a place where people are NOT ALLOWED. Pshaw, I said, let's be BRAVE, I said. Let's just take a picture OUTSIDE, I said. So, they readily agreed to pose. If you click on the photo, they gave it their all in the vain hope that I wouldn't humiliate them by making them go INSIDE!

No such luck! Of course we had to go inside. We met the lovely, warm and welcoming Jan at reception (I regret not taking a picture with her!) She told us what parts of the building are open to the public and we explored! The kids quicklyl warmed up to this part of our adventure and I'm glad we ventured in to the Service Center!

There is some gorgeous art in the Service Center building. In fact, I've created an ART page just to chronicle the gorgeous things we're seeing. When I have time, I want to see if there's any explanation/description of all the beautiful pieces of art out there! When we were done exploring, we told the lovely Jan about our quest and she was very supportive and sweet. I think that gave the kids just the encouragement they needed to pose in this "Take Time to Read" rocking chair. The little cards are great. We took a few and will pass them out to anyone who needs some permission to just take some time to read! Reading is one of our favorite things!

In my next post, I'll tell you all about our visit to the Bellevue library . . .

LIBRARY #1 - ISSAQUAH

On 8/5/11, after our lunch where we devised the RULES we hit our very first snag. There were teens, a whole band of them (literally) setting up lots of electrical cables and musical instruments right in front of the library!
This was crucial. Did we HAVE to have the library's SIGN in the picture? Or was it okay to just take a picture outside the library? LaDiva quickly decided it was okay just to snap a shot outside of the library. If you look REALLY closely you actually CAN see the sign off to the left. The kids were fascinated by the fish out front, and right up the road from the library is the fish hatchery, where the salmon spawn!.
KCLS has amazing art in their buildings. Now, when I'm back at our "home" library -Fairwood- I'm going to have to see if we have any art, because Issaquah, Bellevue & the service center have some amazing art, as you can see from the photos I'll be posting later!

The first thing that we saw was this self check in kiosk. LaDiva CLAIMS we have one at our Fairwood branch but I swear I've never seen it. Maybe I've just been taking our library for granted all this time. We had 20+ items to return and I had fun putting everything through the scanner on the little belt. Of course, it took me quite a while to get the hang of the thing and the kids got frustrated with my dorky slowness and very "momness" and went to the bathroom while I finished feeding everything through the machine!!

We went inside, wandering around the library and looked at books (of course!) The kids were a little upset that there was a "Teen Zone" (and it was very close to 3pm!) No teens were in the zone, however; just some middle-aged dude and his computer. I learned on the first day of our quest that LOTS of people bring their computers to the library! I left mine at home but was feeling a little out of the loop, I'll tell you!

Once we'd wandered around, peeked in meeting rooms and scoped out all the great seating spots, the kids settled in to read and I grabbed the latest issue of PEOPLE Magazine. Don't judge. How else am I going to keep up on JLo's divorce? I read magazines at the library a LOT! It is one of my favorite things to do while Little G is playing games on the computer or while LaDiva is looking for another story about a dog and a girl. Or a dog and a boy. She loves those dog stories!

After we'd read for awhile, I decided we might have time to catch another library. I scoped out the KCLS site on one of the handy-dandy computers they have in the library and looked up the address and directions to the Bellevue branch. We checked out and got on our way!

If I'm slow at the check IN, Little G is slow at the check OUT. One of our RULES is that we each have to use our library cards in each branch we visit. I'm fast, LaDiva is faster and Little G is so slow that the system times out and we have to re-scan his card nearly every time. I'm hoping his speed improves over time!

As we were walking back to the car, the kids spotted this groovy park. Naturally, we had to take a run around-and-jump-and-climb-and-swing-on-things break. No worries, I had a few books to read while Little G made friends instantly and suddenly was in a game of "Girls Chase the Boys" and LaDiva tried to master each piece of playground equipment. their favorite was this big spider web thingy!

Next, because I cannot seem to remove this double-posted picture, I'll explain it. It is a sculpture outside the library. A bird and a book. (A raven, perhaps? I didn't look closely.) LaDiva had to pose as if she were "reading" the book!

Next post, I'll explain how I further humiliated my children by stopping at the KCLS administrative offices on our way to Bellevue . . .

IN THE BEGINNING

There was an idea to start a QUEST to visit every library in the King County Library System (which will henceforth be known as KCLS).

A LIST of all the KCLS libraries was obtained from their website and on August 5, 2011 the kids and I set forth to accomplish this task!

Library cards at the ready (pictured here), we left our home in Renton, WA and during lunch at Las Margaritas in Issaquah, WA we created the RULES for our quest!

We visited the Issaquah and Bellevue libraries today and the KCLS Service Center/Administrative offices.

I'm Michele, and the kids are LaDiva (age 10) and Little G (age 7).

It's about 11pm at night so in later posts I'll chronicle both the libraries we visited today and all the libraries we visit during the year!

Come join us on our journey!