I had a perfect activity bus run today. I dropped off the speech and debate team at the two venues and then I drove to the local public library. In this case it was the South Jordan Public Library. Although I always try, I can’t always make it to a library on activity trips. Some of the trips require me to shuttle kids back and forth during the activity so I have to hang around. Other activities occur when the library is closed. Other times the library is in a downtown location where there is no place to park a forty foot bus. Today, everything worked out perfect.

Today I had nine hours between drop off and pickup times. You heard that right—nine uninterrupted hours of library time. The library was just a few blocks away from the venue, which is great, but parking looked like it might be a problem. The library is in a highly populated area where space is tight. Where you don’t think twice going in a car in a bus you are running over curbs and grazing light posts. To my delight I found a vacant lot off a back street right next to the library. Downtown library parking doesn’t get much better than this.

The library didn’t look like much when I approached it. I need to explain. Many of the small town libraries I find are quaint in their own ways. They are in old, multistoried houses, or in old buildings of quirky architecture built back in the twenties. They are the kind of library that, when looking from the outside, you can’t wait to go in. The South Jordan library was gray and plain. I didn’t expect quirky, but I did expect something a little grander for such a populated area. I suppose the fact that it was a cloudy, January day didn’t put it in its best light.

When I walked in I saw that I had judged too quickly. It was far bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. It wasn’t just its size that surprised me, but I felt like I had walked through the door into the secret garden after the kids had it in full bloom. There were colors and textures and well-planned lighting. The help desk is right in the center with busy librarians. Beyond them is a well-stocked paper rack. Beyond that are computer friendly study tables with easily accessible power connectors. That combined with the WiFi, which is easy to connect to and very fast, made it a writer’s dream. Beyond the study tables are a forest of comfortable chairs around a gas fire with wooden shelves stocked with new fiction.

Off on either side are well-lighted sections full of shelves that are full of books, cds, and dvds.  There is a children’s play area that tempted me. There were plenty of computer stations for adults for both research and alternative usasage such as gaming. Something I haven’t seen in other libraries isthe section of children’s’ computers that were seeing great use. I was led there by the sounds of music the kids were making as a by-product of the games they were playing.

Overhead there was a wandering river of letters and numbers. I thought it was just a random jumble, until I looked closer. It turned out to be a river of names, dates, places, and zip codes. I still need to spend more time finding all it has to offer.

I spent several productive hours at a study table writing my novel. The library is noisy, but in that pleasant way that speaks of life and good use. I found it not distracting, but comforting and pleasant.

After lunch I wandered around the shelves peeking at what they have to offer. I eventually stumbled into a section containing collections of my favorite comics such as Foxtrot, The Far Side, and Zits. There, lit by a pair of corner windows, I found another of those study tables looking lonely. I made friends with it and settled in for the afternoon. All too soon the speech and debate coach texted me. It was time to go. I’ll probably never get back up to this library again on such a perfect day, but what a memory.

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Bus Driver’s Diaries: Stories from the Driver’s Seat is now available on Amazon.com

Bus Driver’s Diaries: Stories From the Drivers Seat