Sunshine, Beaches, and Books

This past weekend, I visited our former coworker, Susan, who relocated to Southern Florida a couple years ago. While enjoying the beautiful beaches (and less than warm weather), Susan and I decided to make a quick stop at the Main Library of the Miami-Dade County Library System.

I was extremely impressed with the wonderful location of the library. Located just miles from the beach in the heart of central Miami, the Main Library shared a large plaza with the Miami Art Museum and the History Museum of Southern Florida. The three buildings were arranged around an enormous central plaza, that I can only imagine would not only be great for an urban lunch, but also perfect for large family programs co-sponsored by the three cultural organizations!

The interior of the library was equally impressive architecturally; however, the collection within was somewhat disappointing. (I would assume that the library system relies more on its neighborhood branches, located in places where people actually live, while the main branch is more of a figurehead for tourists.)

After searching the two floors, I finally discovered the Young Adult collection buried in the corner of Government Documents. Now, while the Young Adult collection was rather attractive, I have to question the library's decision to place in in Gov. Docs! It didn't exactly create a fun environment where teens could visit and actually be "teens"; in fact, on the day of our visit, the only person in the YA area was the library's security guard (who was sending text messages.)