This post originally ran July 24th, 2010 (the pictures were taken earlier that spring) but I thought I’d run it again in honor of Washington Library Snapshot Day, which is today! Since many of my old posts have broken photo links due to some recent changes, I’ll continue to delve into the archives occasionally in an effort to clean up some of the oldies but goodies. Unfortunately, I have no photos from inside the actual library that day — just some from outside in the plaza and coffeehouse visit afterwards!
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Sometime in the last year or so, a new library opened up near us. Really close — I’d say a 5 minute drive, max! I’d been meaning to go to the Greenbridge Library in White Center with my girls for awhile, but kept forgetting or feeling not up for it since I knew I would have to get a new library card there since its in a different system than our other one (I know, big roadblock, ha ha). One free morning I finally made good on my plans and actually got us there, soon after the library opened.
The Greenbridge community in White Center was previously public housing that was recently taken down and totally redone as a mixed income community featuring green building techniques. There are various types of housing in this very walkable community as well as an elementary school, a community center, the library & a YMCA learning center, a playground (which I JUST discovered online, and need to go check out!!!), a fabulous coffeshop, and tons more spaces for retail (which have been empty and I hope fill up, soon!).
We parked close to the library and went there first. It’s a pretty tiny library, but has a cute, well stocked children’s section, a fair number of computers, helpful librarians and lots of new, interesting media (CDs and DVDs) that caught my eye. The girls and I had fun choosing a bunch of books for checkout, and the library was not crowded so the librarians had plenty of time to help us (which is appreciated, when I am herding a preschooler and two toddlers who are starting to get bored…). For longer visits, I like to go to libraries with more toddler-friendly activities (puzzles, stuffed animals, etc) but for a short visit this was great.
We dropped off the books in the car and then wandered off to explore. Next to the library and community center is a large, open pavillion that is great for letting the kiddies loose. There were cement benches and walls to climb on, intersting things on the ground, fun structures overhead, and a really cool (and huge!) piece of public art to enjoy.
When we (inevitably) started getting antsy and hungry, we headed over to check out the Dubsea Coffee Shop, which I had heard good things about. What a great coffeehouse! Yummy food, great art, and it even had toys! We didn’t check those out this time — we got an italian soda and cookie to share, and enjoyed them the civilized way, sitting at a table with chairs. I will totally be back, with kids and without — this place was nice!!!
After that we headed back to the car (slowly!) with Emma hijacking my camera to take a few photos of her own, including this nice grass shot. That’s my girl — I’ve always loved the plant closeups, myself!
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