This photo brought back some fond memories for me; the entrance hall to Perry Common Library. The first thing I thought when I saw the photo was, "warm", yes. always warm in there, the warmth hitting you as you went in. Stamping the snow off your boots in that entrance, leaving puddles on the marble (?) floor, then going in through the 'IN' desk (ie the gap to the right of those double doors) to return books and finally leisurely wandering around the tall bookcases - in the warm. Get my drift - it was warm! I'd go as far as to say it was cosy and secure. To be able to lose yourself in books, nice and cosy and no interruptions, well no wonder I spent hours in there.
The double doors directly ahead was the entrance to the reading room where you could read newspapers on desks with a sort of sloping structure on top. There were lots of different newspapers too.
Immediately to the right of the photo, but off the image, was the 'Out' section where books chosen for borrowing were stamped. This had exactly the same set up as the 'In' section opposite. There were no doors on the 'In' or 'Out' sections, but the glass windows/partition joining the in and out desks enclosed the area for the staff behind the desks. I notice there's a sliding window in that partition, but I never ever saw that in use.
Viv.
