Columbus Ohio - Sensational!

Columbus is a town of 800,000 people that feels like a country town. The landscape is flat as the eye can see and they have been hit quite badly with the economic downturn, (9.5% unemployment). But the central library is wonderful and this year won US library of the year, a well deserved accolade. The central library is welcoming and they have really interesting displays. They are the first library we have been to where they take a retail approach to display with face out books and display pedestals all over the library. I've certainly got some interesting ideas from them for our displays at home and also floating the entire collection. The manager and staff were very welcoming and provided us with a full day of branch visits and presentations from the staff. The things that have come up time and time again are, early literacy, assisting with job search, art work in the library, and budget cuts, and the importance of the library in community building and developing programs where there is a perceived need (eg.job help centres). The staff at Columbus were very proud of their award and people we spoke to in the shops and the street all knew about it and were also very proud.
all in all a very satisfying visit.
Not much to do in Columbus however, its pretty quiet!!!