A Visit to the Carnegie

If you are looking for beauty in downtown Albany, visit the Carnegie Library. This wonderful old building stores books, of course, books for the citizens of Albany to check out and read at their leisure. But the Carnegie can also lend, to anyone who enters, a relaxed mood to take home and a pleasant memory of a pleasing-for-the- eyes space.

Walk in and the rich oaken checkout desk, like the prow of a ship, greets all who enter. This is the original checkout desk from 1914. Look around. Stained wooden shelves abound, and oak tables and chairs reflect the abundant sunlight that streams in from the many high windows that circle the main floor. Two fireplaces with oak mantels and brick tile hearths, north and south, warm the two main rooms even without a fire

Browse downstairs, too, if you have children with you. There are lots of picture books and a stage in a large refurbished room with colorful floor coverings and more wooden shelves. More rows of windows, high in the room but at ground level outside, make you forget that this sunlit room is in a basement. Step into the teen room downstairs, as well, and browse the books and the beauty. 

Go back up the several level staircase, walk through the computer and video room, and go out the front door.  Turn around and gaze up at this aesthetic gem of downtown.

A drop-in at the Carnegie is more than a literary experience.