Storytime A Sharing Time At Shadle’s New Library

‘Here’s the yellow ball…” says the children’s librarian, placing a round shape on the felt board.

“It’s a red ball!” says a tiny girl with blonde ponytail, giggling.

“So it is,” says Cecilia McGowan, laughing at her mistake.

It’s a tough crowd, the 20 tots who gather Monday mornings for storytime at the Shadle Branch Library.

McGowan says it’s the best part of her job.

Especially now, in the glistening new storytime room of the library that opened just two weeks ago.

When storytime ends, 4-year-old Loryn Butters begs her mom to stay at the library a little longer.

“Please, I don’t want to go home,” she says. Her mom, Mary Butters, brings her daughter almost every week for storytime. She wants her child to learn to love books and reading.

But Butters says it also gives her a chance to leave the house and meet and talk with other moms while their children are entranced by the stories.

“That we can provide a place where parents can meet and share interests is one of the best things about this,” says McGowan. “Parents have met here and gone on to be friends, or start other groups and organizations.”

Another little girl, clutching a book, pulls a stool into a sunny window corner and settles in.

Children and adults gravitate to the sunlight, and Shadle’s new library has plenty of it.

From the moment patrons enter the front door and pass through the hall of earth-tone slate that opens into the library, there’s a sense of nature. Walls of windows bring the park outside indoors.

“The slate is an artwork in itself, says Andrea Sharp, Shadle branch manager. “It’s all very natural. It feels like you are right in the park.”

Mary Hewett reads a magazine on a sun-drenched couch.

“It’s wonderful,” she says, of the new library. “I’m not sure about the view of the water tower, but the rest is very nice. I wish it was bigger and I hope they get more books. We’ve been waiting a long time for this.

“The furniture is beautiful. It looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright design,” she adds.

The cherrywood-stained chairs, tables and shelves have curves and round edges. Fabrics look like tapestry in rich forest green, blue and burgundy.

Moving the library out of the Shadle Center and to the edge of Shadle Park, on Wellesley, has made the library more visible. Neighbors who haven’t thought about the library in years are suddenly visiting.

Librarians are dashing around. Circulation has doubled: 3,000 books, tapes, videos and magazines are checked out daily; reference calls have doubled.

“It’s what I predicted, but seeing it happen has been complimentary to the library,” says Sharps. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: STORYTIME SCHEDULE Storytime is held three times a week for all ages: Toddlers - Monday, 10:30 a.m. Families - Tuesday, 7 p.m. Preschool-age - Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.

Library hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday - 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday - 1-9 p.m. Sunday - closed