By Michael Roy, Circulation Associate
Envision a massive arched room approximately the length of a football field. With closer observation, you notice that the colossal arch is roughly three or four stories high and gazes down upon you with the splendor of white and cream marble. Picture a series of massive windows to your left illuminating the vast expanse of this room, casting an almost otherworldly glow on the immense chamber. Have a picture in place? Great, because in your mind’s eye you have just captured an image of the main reading room at the Boston Public Library.
Recently, a couple a friends and I took a trip to Boston when I was on spring break and on vacation from work. In Boston, we visited The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Quincy Market, and some other Boston locales. After having worked at the Westerly Public Library for some years now, I have a certain fondness for all things libraryish. As a result, we decided to eat our lunch (which we bought at Quincy Market) in front of the Boston Public Library. This particular spot was very pleasant--on one side was the library and on the other was a very old and very gothic church with earthy tones of reds and browns. As we ate our lunch, we faced the church, but at one point I turned to look at the library.
The outside was very regular with a marble façade and clean straight lines and edges, concealing the ornate beauty inside. However, after looking at the front for a few minutes, I noticed on top the roman numerals MLCCCLXXXVIII. I checked the numbers again, and yes, in fact it was 1888, just six years before the Westerly Library was constructed. In fact, work on the Boston Public Library was completed in 1895; just one year after Westerly’s library opened its doors. Once I realized this, I knew that I had to go in and see all that this library had to offer.
To describe the interior of the Boston Public Library would take much longer than one article. To describe this architectural marvel in one sentence, however, would be to say that every corner took my breath away. As I perused the various rooms, I thought about our library in Westerly. I reflected on our intricate woodwork and our yellow brick and terra cotta. I thought about all of the hidden treasures that our building possesses, such as the gargoyles on either side of the bay window, and the angel and devil faces that are set on either side of the main staircase on the ceiling. Two libraries built in two very different places, with two very different architectural styles, yet both still capture the essence of the Gilded Age. I still marvel at how the beauty of one library made me rethink just how wonderful our library is and continues to be.
Westerly Sun Column