I came across the Lake Forest Park Library (a King County Library in Lake Forest Park, WA) quite on accident. I was visiting the amazing Third Place Books, when I discovered the library downstairs. It occurred to me that it had been a while since I made a post and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Lake Forest Park Library is nestled in the Town Center shopping mall, a curious collection of stores and interconnected passageways. This shopping mall is not like the malls that house Bookmarks (Dallas Public Library branch in NorthPark Center) or even the other KCLS Branch in Southcenter Mall. This is a small, indoor mall this is mostly taken up by Third Place Books. There is also a food court, a Rite Aid, a Gallery, and some other shops.
The library itself is small, but still a good size for the space. There are even designated children and teen spaces.
I loved the attention to detail and the welcoming layout. The clock behind the counter was very eye-catching.
While I was pleasantly surprised by the presence of a library, the real reason I was there was to explore the great Third Place Books. This bookstore is amazing! They have all the new releases and also buy used books to add to their shelves.
They have a pretty amazing children's section. Fun decor and a good selection.
They had a life sized chess board, a common area with lots of seating, and their own press! They will help you self-publish a book and print it.
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| Wizard's Chess, anyone? |
Lastly, they had a store that sold all kinds of tempting goodies.
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| Yes, this is a Tribble coin purse. |
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| Such cat. Much amaze. |
What an awesome place! I could spend hours and hours here. The whole shopping center is kind of amazing and it makes you think about the future of libraries and bookstores. I love that this community has a centralized location where they can find books as they accomplish their daily errands. You can check out a book from the library, read it, and decided to buy it upstairs. As strange as this sounds, I have lots of books on my bookshelf that I have never read. By this, I mean that I have never read that copy. I buy the book after I fall in love with the library copy and loan mine out to friends and family. It's also just nice to see the book on my shelf should I decide t revisit it. Having these two institutions together in the same place seems to work really well. I imagine that Third Place Press, for instance, facilitates a lot of emerging local authors. And having an established author event can be shared and supported by both agencies.
In short, I had a fun adventure yesterday. Town Center is a kind of mecca for book nerds. You should go if you find yourself in the Seattle area. As a parting note, please enjoy this random astronaut.
Best,
Amanda
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