The Boston Public Library

If you are ever in Boston and get the chance to visit the Boston Public Library please do so, you won't be disappointed.   While we were in town attending the New England Dessert Showcase,  we took the opportunity to take the short walk to the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth in Copley Square where the historic Boston Public Library sits.

This grand historic library is very much a library of firsts.  The Boston Public Library was the first publicly supported municipal library, the first library open to the public, and the first to let the public borrow books.

The photo taken above shows a closer look  at the lights of the outside entrance. Aren't they unusual looking?   Bottom photo is of the main  inside entrance viewed from the front stairs looking down.

This regal lion seems as though he is guarding the marble stairs to the reading rooms above or  perhaps he is keeping watch over the 1.7 million rare books and manuscripts housed here. 

Gazing down the middle aisle of the reading room gave me the shivers. So beautiful, I wish my amateur  photography had captured the reading rooms true beauty.  Look at all the green lamps  glowing.

Here is a  closer view of the photo on my sidebar of the

statue in the courtyard.  She has such a look of pure joy on her face. 

What a treat it would be to spend a leisurely afternoon in the warm fall sun sitting in the courtyard with a cup of steamy coffee and a good book.  Simple pleasures.