Library #16 Frank E. Merriweather Branch

On Thursday we visited the Merriweather Branch of the library system, located near the Buffalo Museum of Science. What a beautiful library. Only a few years old, this branch is named for Frank E. Merriweather, the editor and publisher of The Criterion newspaper, the oldest minority newspaper in upstate New York. This library has a dome with different colored glass panes that really impressed us when we arrived in the library. This library is uniique in that it has circular rooms with the circulation desk at the center of the library.

This library also has a very impressive research library called the William A. Miles Center for African and African-American Studies,the largest research facilty of its kind in our area. It has display cases, many books, even microfilm and old reel to reel films on various subjects. This reasearch library is named after Mr. Miles, a Buffalo and Erie County Public Library System official for many years.

After checking out a bunch of books and getting a nice tour from the director, we headed to City Hall to drop off completed book reports for Mayor Brown's Summer Reading Program. A little ice cream at Anderson's on the way home capped off this adventure in a great way.

Library #15 Williamsville Village Branch

Today, we went in our backyard to the Williamsville Branch on Main Street in the village of Williamsville. We pick up a fruit and vegetable share from a local farm at the train depot on Long Street during the summer months and have driven by this branch a lot of times. We finally were able to stop and check it out! This is another of the Amherst Library branches, so there were bikes on top of the book cases for the summer raffle. We liked the rocking chair and the mural on the walls of the local architecture, including the Old Red Mill, in the village. Next door is the Village Hall, and a statue made from the October Storm trees of Frank Lloyd Wright--since it was the week that residents voted on village disolution, he was holding an "I love Williamsville" sign. We checked out our books and then wandered behind the library to Island Park--what a great spot to sit and read or just play. We then went across Main Street to see one of our favorite places; Glenn Park and its beaufiful waterfall. A late afternoon well spent!

Library #14 Hamburg Branch

Wendnesday morning was our trip to the Erie County Fair,and the nearby Hamburg Library Branch. We drove through the nice neighborhoods on the tree lined streets past Union Pleasant Elementary School around the corner to the small, but busy village library. We liked the old signs in the lobby showing that this was an Andrew Carnegie library at one time. The staff was very friendly and helpful and we found a pile of books to read. Mom also found the first dvd of the Little House on the Prairie series she watched when she was little. At the fair we had fun seeing the animals, winning goldfish and stuffed animals and of course, eating! What a great day!

Library #13 North Park Branch (city of Buffalo)

This branch was great--while located in an unassuming part of a strip plaza next to K Mart on Hertel Avenue, this library was beautiful inside and reminded us of a Barnes and Noble book store! It had a nice hardwood floor, labels for each section of books, a room of computers and a neighborhood atmosphere. We saw Cindy, a librarian whom we met at the Crane Branch on Elmwood last month--all the people working here were very helpful and accomodating to all the library patrons. We found out this library is in search of a permanent home, and that they have a nice summer reading time on Friday evenings for kids.
After this visit we went to see Macbeth in Delaware Park; Shakespeare in the Park! We parked by the Albright Knox, walked past the statue of Young Abraham Lincoln, past Hoyt Lake and through the beautiful Rose Garden to Shakespeare Hill. What a great show, and what a great setting. We loved sitting there, seeing all the women act the parts on the neat stage, all while eating and drinking! The season is over soon, but next summer we will be there again--our city has the second largest outdoor Shakespeare theatre program in the country--very cool!

Library #12 Alden (Ewell Free Library )

On Thursday, we took a nice ride out to Alden to see our first two story library--this beautiful building (almost 100 years old!) houses the children's library downstairs and the regular library upstairs. The main room upstairs contains the circulation desk, as well as separate rooms for computers and a teenager themed room. Throughout the library are wooden sculptures carved by a retired math teacher from the town--a scene of carved statues entitled "Let the Wild Rumpus
Begin", from Where the Wild Things Are was especially impressive! We arrived just in time to see a touch tank presentation by the Aquarium of Niagara (http://www.aquariumofniagara.org/)--we saw and touched sea stars, crabs and other sea creatures--we loved this. Great library with friendly people.

Library #11 Angola Branch

We had never been to this neat little town right on Lake Erie. This library was very small, but very beautiful from the outside. The library had a lot of activity for a Monday afternoon, and had a great community feel. The librarians were very welcoming and suggested that we go down to the lake and get a hot dog at Connors, a famous lake front restaurant. We did, and it was fun and yummy!

Library # 10 Lake Shore

On our way to the Southern Tier we came to the Lake Shore Branch of the library. This interesting building has a squiggly roof that represents the waves of the lake, complete with blue bricks. This small library had a lot of of people in it and a very youth oriented staff. We found out they have a ton of neat activites for kids. One of the libraians, Lori, told us about special nights when kids can come dressed up as princesses and pirates. They have movies, and many other fun things to do. What a great library. We checked out some joke books and were on our way to the Angola Branch a few miles away.

Library #9 Clarence

We can't believe it, but it took 9 libraries to get to our wonderful home town library, Clarence. Our library is large, beautiful and full of helpful and talented librarians and volunteers. We are usually here once a week, if not more, picking up reserves, dvds, checking out books, and reading. There is a beautiful hand carved wood sculpture above the circulation desk, always nice displays in the lobby, and a magazine exchange you can participate in. This great library is in a park setting with a pond and walking trail around it, we like the founders walkway outside the door too. We love our library!
After this trip, we had dinner and then went to the Transit Drive-In Theatre (http://www.transitdrivein.com/) a great family experience! The drive-in was packed--we had lots of snacks, saw two movies and found out next time we can even bring the dog!

library #8 Lancaster

The Lancaster Public Library is in the village and is a beautiful building. Inside, we found a curved ceiling covered with carpet, a four sided fireplace, and even a vending machine! This library is spacious and well-organized. They had a great kids' section. We can't wait to visit Lancaster again in the wintertime to sit by the fireplace with a good book after seeing the old AM & A's window displays around the village.