Places & Faces: Auburn Public Library

By Katie Stallcup

Published: July 13, 2008

Mary Long sat at a table with her daughter and two friends, a stack of books piled in front of her.

“I love the library because it’s cheap fun,” Long said. “It’s like going to the movies, but you don’t have to pay for it.”

Long, who teaches preschool, uses the library’s books as a resource as well as entertainment.

“I come to the library about once a week,” she said.

The Auburn Public Library recently opened a new youth services wing, much to the delight of both children and adults visiting the addition Sunday.

The addition still smells faintly of fresh paint. Brightly-colored banners hang from the ceiling, and a tiger painted with ladybug wings stands guard over the play area.

Auburn residents Jey and Pop Koehler and their two sons love the library as well.

“It’s a great place,” Jey Koehler said. “We’re big library-goers. We’re big believers in it, and we live right around the corner.”

Koehler said she especially likes the new wing.

“It’s nice the kids have their own space,” she said. “They don’t have to worry quite as much about being quiet.”

Hans Koehler, 9, said he likes the fact that the children’s books are separated from the adult
section, and he and Hudson, 7, both enjoy the section’s toys.

Asya Morgan, 12, likes the library because it’s her own quiet place to read.

“You can do homework, and you don’t get bothered,” Morgan said. “You can use the computers if you don’t have one, and you can check out any books you want.”

For library hours or more information, visit http://www.auburnalabama.org/library.