... to meet Coeur d'Alene Librarian Bette Ammon, her fine staff and blog for a coupla hours at the soon-to-be former library on Harrison Avenue. In the trivia category, I was present when then mayor Ray Stone dedicated the old L-P building as Coeur d'Alene's new library shortly after he took office in 1986. Jim Fromm, the former mayor instrumental in opening the new library, checked out the first book: Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion." My how time flies ...

Update: I chatted with Bette Ammon for a bit when I got here and looked over the plans for the new library, sitting on her desk. She's excited that the building is starting to take shape near the lake and that her staff gets its first shakedown tour of it Saturday. It's going to be stunning. Plenty of wi-fi access, including in the room that'll serve as Coeur d'Alene City Council chambers and along windows looking out onto Tubbs Hill, where wi-fiers will be able to sit at cafe style tables with electrical outlets. I'm seeing the wisdom of the insistence by city library planners in locating this building in the heart of the most picturesque part of the city. The new library will open in August. I'm going to be interested to see how McEuen Field is incorporated into the overall setting.

Update 2: CDA Trustee/Wastewater Super Sid Fredrickson (with one E) stopped by the library to say hi and discuss things like the school levy and sewering the NW quadrant of the city area of impact (think Atlas Road). We also talked about the work Chesrown and Stone are doing along and river and concluded that we blew it 20 years ago when we didn't invest in the right property that's now light years beyond our reach.

Update 3: Katrina/Notes on a Napkin dropped by with her two younguns in tow: Katie and Caleb. She promised to attend the next blogfest. And I suggested to her that she take the kiddies by Stickman's to pick up a coupla cool walking sticks.

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