The main public library in downtown St. Louis (called the Central Library) has just re-opened after a $70 million dollar restoration. It has been closed since 2010. The grand re-opening took place on the 100th anniversary of the library’s original opening in 1912. Back then, the library cost $1.5 million to build. A major chunk of that money came from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.
There’s no doubt that the Central Library’s enormous stacks of books, architecture, and Grand Hall are impressive. It is the crown jewel of the St. Louis public library system and the basement was even used as a set in the movie “Escape From New York.” St. Louis county also has a first-class library system as well.
But what about if you live in one of the many small municipalities outside St. Louis city and county like I do? I live in Richmond Heights which is just west of St. Louis. My town borders Clayton, Maplewood, Webster Groves, and Brentwood, The town of Rock Hill sits a little further up Manchester Road from Brentwood.
The libraries in these and other small towns just outside of St. Louis have banded together to form the Municipal Library Consortium of St. Louis County. The libraries are separate from those in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County, but you can pick up an application to join them as well at the consortium libraries.
The consortium consists of 9 libraries in all, but I decided to limit my review to just those that are 5-10 minutes from my house: Brentwood, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, and Rock Hill. They are ranked according to comfort, atmosphere, book and periodical selection, and architecture. They are also ranked in order of which ones I like best.
Brief note: I like to hang out at coffee shops and bookstores as well. There are still a (very) few good independent bookstores in the St. Louis area, and I visit them regularly, but most of the big chains like Borders and Barnes and Noble have shuttered their stores in this area. This has left me to rediscover the local libraries and I’m glad I did!
Ranked #4- Rock Hill.
I’m not sure where the old Rock Hill Library was, but the one that is located on Manchester Road just past the Rock Hill city limits sign is new, just having opened a short time ago. The main drawback with this library is that it’s too small. Way too small, especially for a person like me who likes to spend hours reading and browsing. The building interior is really nice, with bright colors and bright, upscale carpeting. The space was formerly a small paint store and before that, a Crispy Creme, so you can imagine how small it is. There are only a couple of tables if you want to do homework or paperwork from the office, and just a couple of stuffed chairs up front by the windows. I don’t know if the city of Rock Hill is just strapped for cash or what, but I think they could have gotten a bigger space.
Ranked #3- Brentwood
The Brentwood Library is also located off of Manchester Road at Litzinger, just east of the Rock Hill library. It is in a very large building that also houses City Hall and a modern fire station. Unlike when the Maplewood location was also housed in the city hall building, Brentwood is a lot more spacious and comfortable than the cramped, tiny space that used to be over the police station in Maplewood.
Whoever designed this library must have really liked wood, oak in particular. Each area of the library is encased with really nice oak. The library houses a sizable reference department and a good selection of fiction and non-fiction books. They also have a good magazine and newspaper selection. Another plus is that there are a number of big comfortable chairs scattered throughout. A unique feature is that most of the chairs have a small round table attached to them.
Ranked #2- Maplewood
How to rank this library was a difficult choice. The library has a good selection of books, but the magazines and newspaper section could use some work. They only have the weekend version of the New York Times, for example, while all of the other libraries have the daily and the weekend version here is usually several weeks old.
The library moved out of its cramped location in city hall a few years ago and into the former Maplewood pool house. I love the building. It looks almost like a fortress, comprised of big gray stone blocks. And outside the entrance, there is a wall carved with quotes about reading and books from famous people throughout history. (see photo)
This library also has the most interesting reading room of all of the libraries. It’s located at the back and has five comfortable chairs and a working gas fireplace to take the chill off of a cold winter day.
The biggest problem with this location is the atmosphere. On most days, a tutor has one of her teenage clients at one of the tables in the middle of the library. That’s fine, except she talks really loud. I’m sitting several stacks back and the other day I learned much more about the Earth’s core than I really wanted to know. The other libraries have their regulars that are there reading almost every day, but this library has one guy who spends all of his time sleeping in the reading room. I’m not sure if he’s homeless or what. And finally, being next to Maplewood schools and the swimming pool, sometimes the library gets filled with noisy kids running around. But despite the detractions this place gets a number 2 ranking for its book selection, architecture, and its kick-A reading room.
#1 Choice- Richmond Heights
The Richmond Heights Memorial Library is housed in the state-of-the-art recreation complex on Dale Ave., right off of Hanley Road and busy Highway 40. The building has lots of glass and an appealing dome. Parking is never a problem. The library sits on the second floor and has a good selection of books as well as what I think, is the best selection of magazines and newspapers. The seating area is large with plenty of tables for computers and lots of comfortable chairs, which are not located right by the windows like some of the other libraries where you are staring into the sun while trying to read. They also have a large collection of DVD’s and CD’s if you want to check out a free movie or listen to music. This location gets number 1 because of its variety, book selection, comfort, and, most of all, it’s quiet.
Some say that the libraries will go the way of the bookstores, put under by the on-line book sellers and I-pads. And that may be the case eventually, but for now, they are still one of my favorite places to be.
