Finiding Inspiration at The Fairhope Public Library

Monthly, I attend a meeting of the Southern Bloggers Jubilee. This is a group of bloggers who meet in the pursuit of sharing information, learning from one another, and promoting each other and our community. This month we met at one of my favorite places, the Fairhope Public Library.
A view from the second story into the main area of the Fairhope Public Linrary
Following our meeting, we got a chance to meet Library Director, Tamara Dean, who gave us a tour and lots of information about our library.
Most of the members present at August's meeting with Tamara

As our group was led on the tour, we each were pulled to our areas of interest. While I found that intriguing within itself, I got pulled in my own direction: all the lovely inspiration packed into one place.

First, and most obviously there are the books. The library has a wide array of art, craft, and beading books for all ages. Best thing, they're free. . .if you return them on time.
I found the top two in the non-fiction adult area and the bottom two in the kids non-fiction.

Secondly, cozy nooks are to be found throughout the library with an abundance of light. These nooks are perfect for a quiet place (shhhhhh!) to daydream designs, flip through one of those inspiring books, and/or sketch.
These are only two of such areas in the Fairhope Library

Third, the Library (Fairhope's most especially) is packed full of art and displays and exhibits that absolutely get creative juices flowing.
I love the color combos in the painting in the upper left. The other pieces are all made out of decoupaged paper and make me sigh with relief that librarians don't seem to mind art made from old book pages (much). Whew!

In addition to all that inspiration, the Fairhope Library offers a variety of resources that can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home if you're one that doesn't need to venture far to find inspiration.
  • CamilliaNet - downloadable books for your e-reader
  • Alabama Virtual Library - for reference materials
  • One Click Digital - audio books
  • Zinio - digital magazines
  • Mango Languages - a language learning tool
  • And a variety of other resources 

It's amazing what all you can get out of your local library. When was the last time you paid yours a visit? I guarantee you'll be inspired.

7 comments:

  1. I'm afraid our library has been terribly neglected these past few years :( We were frequent visitors when the children were small, then later for internet access. Since getting home internet, I visit much less often. Hubby still regularly borrows and reads... he is NOT a fan of digital :)

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  2. You are lucky to live so close to such a great library. the closest one to me is getting remodeled and the library itself is getting housed in a food pantry! BUT, Dayton has an interlibrary loan system so I can go online and order anything I want! I love the library!

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    1. Lee - I suppose I am lucky to simply live in such a great community. How sad that yours is in such a state of disarray. However, a remodel is a good sign of things to come right. . .bright side! And yeah, they way the libraries work with one another is really great. I love it too :)

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  3. Thank you so much for all your kind words about my blog! I attended a meeting in early May, and I guess we didn't meet that day. I was a guest of Jenna M's because we normally go down several times a year. This year, so far anyway, the knee surgery has derailed travel plans but I hope to get down just before or just after the end of September. That library is really a nice amenity for the residents. We attended a book signing by Joshilyn Jackson for her book which had just come out.

    We hope to find a little place next year after I have my other knee done so we can spend more time there. I will look forward to meeting you.

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  4. I really enjoyed all the art, historical memorabilia and photos that were in every nook and cranny of the library. And I loved those memorial plates on the walls. Funny how we all took photos of them, but nobody mentioned them in their library posts.

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  5. You've gathered some great collections and comfortable spaces in words and pictures. Thanks for giving a shout out to our digital content. We average about 1500 eBook and eaudio downloads per month.

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    1. Alan, Aw thanks! The digital content has me amazed. I knew about a few of those resources, but had no idea about the majority of them. I think it's exciting. Of course, I personally love a nice trip to the library and the weight of a real book in my hands. Nothing replaces either of those experiences. Thanks for swinging by! :)

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