It isn't everyday I wander down to the library. I head to either the Lacey or Olympia libraries at least once a week, but mostly to pick up a book I've reserved or to read a paper I can't find anywhere else. But, I've had the week off and reading at home is a bit boring. Plus, we talked about the Timberland Libraries introducing wireless (which seems to be working) and Sarah has written a couple of reports on the mall (here and here) and I thought I'd counter with a library report.

I was going to head to my own Oly library, but I had a side trip come up, which landed me in the neighborhood of the Tumwater library. On a rainy Friday before New Years, its a surprisingly diverse and large crowd. I hang out at libraries a lot so I'm not one to say "I can't believe how many people are down there," but today in Tumwater, I expected less.

On a side note, in general, I expect more out of libraries. Instead of asking our libraries to compete with Barnes and Noble,  we should ask them to fill a space that many people try to fill when they head down to the mall. They should be a town square, a place to hang out, etc.

In that direction, this libraries wireless network is really good, better than the one I have at home. The only thing I don't like is the need to go to the information desk to get a password. Yes, secruity is secruity, but it was annoying to have to pack up my laptop, truck it across the library, get the password to come back and sit down again. That said, in the future I'll obviously pick up the password first.

Now that the libraries have set up wireless networks, it might be a good idea to change the furinture makeup. Possibly more single chairs or one/two person desks, and fewer desktop work stations (especially if the library ever decided to offer loaner laptops).