The building, with its speckled white rectangular structure, is beautiful and vibrant. It gives me an air of the Central Library in Copley Square (also referred to as Copley Library) in Boston. The Central Library is one, if not the only, building that I miss most from my time living in the city. In moments where I didn’t know what to do for the day, Copley was usually my go-to destination.

 

The Copley Library includes the Johnson Building (pictured below) that was renovated a few years ago. It is light and airy, although it might not seem like it from outside. Filled with bold, energetic colors and featuring a large staircase for patrons to flow freely from floor to floor, this is the place I encouraged tourists to visit if they had the chance.

 

 

 

Sitting in the crowd waiting for the Riverside Main Library opening ceremony to begin, I noticed how vibrant the library’s interior is and also spotted ring pendant lighting—a feature of most libraries and similar to that of Copley. It was as though a piece of Boston was right here for me in Riverside.

 

As Mayor Lock Dawson shared her opening remarks, I took my jumbo crayons and began sketching. I like how my sketch took over two pages and how my favorite colors were incorporated. A young girl watched me as I sketched; I became a bit self-conscious but continued putting crayon to paper.

 

 

The ribbon was finally cut, people were let in, and I exited the elevator onto the third floor. Beautiful, light, and airy just as I expected.

 

But as I spent more time in the library, I noticed that although it was bright and airy, the layout was small. With only two floors for patrons to browse in, I was underwhelmed by the use of space. To think that such an incredible piece of architecture only hosted two library floors and one form of entry did not make sense.

 

When I asked a library staff member why elevators were the only way to get in and out, she could not give me a direct answer. I overheard someone say how having elevators might be the library’s way of tightening up security since they have cameras, but it still seemed unjustifiable only to have stairs for an emergency exit and not an entrance.

 

After the day’s celebrations, I walked over to my car where I came across a woman at an intersection. It was clear that she was experiencing homelessness given her cart with belongings. As I crossed the street, she said almost to herself, “They don’t let homeless in those libraries.”

 

I wondered how much of that is true.