My last visit to Steeles was quite awhile ago, but some of my observations still hold true: “Located on the left side of a concrete walkway leading to the mall, Steeles was very compact, and the homey impression created by its lime green walls was taken up a notch by the presence of several stuffed creatures on top of a high shelf: a gorilla, Tweety Bird, and Marvin the Martian.”

These stuffed entities lined the south wall of the library, not far from a reading corner for youngsters. A padded bench along the east wall was situated under a bank of windows overlooking the covered walkway.

I think small readers would really enjoy this bench. Sheltered beneath the windowsills below eye level, they would be undetected by mall shoppers who come and go outside.  (Heh heh! I’m reading here and you don’t know it!)

Desipite Steeles’ limited size, it was possible to find areas of expansiveness, including some restful views of trees and parkland from the north windows. I even saw a bird on a branch!

The program room floor was a carpet of stars and planets, a reminder of the limitless world of imagination contained in books. Where else could a cat share a swing with birds, an alligator watch a mouse’s cooking demonstration, and a frog dress up like a tourist?

As I prepared to leave the library, I took a moment to admire how busy the library was at 10:30 on a Friday morning. Just as I noted three years ago, there was “an enthusiastic crowd of library-users, with nearly every chair occupied by a reader. It made me happy to see so many folks consuming words instead of mall-products.”

Steps away from the exit, an extensive diagonal length of bike rack pointed the way to some open recreational land behind the mall. I love how the same sense of openness and possibility fills the deceptively small confines of Steeles Library!