Although I have wished for some time now
that the word Society was not in their title
not that there is anything inherently wrong with the word
but the way it sits between York and Library
makes it seem as though this is a library for
the Society of People who pay thousands of dollars for shoes
have houses in various places like Vail, Colorado
even so this is one of the places I love the most
(like the Cairo Public Library in Cairo, New York).
Irv Drasnin (IRV!) brought me there
many years ago when he lived down the street before
he and Xiaoyan moved to California and we were
in open stacks in every single category,
small desks where you could sit and read entire days
without worrying about grades or papers
and yesterday when I went to the library to have lunch
at an actual Luncheonette with Carolyn Waters, head librarian,
(BLT and Club Sandwich) we both discussed
why we love libraries, all those book possibilities right there
and librarians who know about all those books and then,
the libraries we loved as a child
and what we’re reading now and then I brought home my big
bag of books (new Cynthia Ozick one example)
and immediately began to read.
My first library, in San Luis Obispo, CA, was a Carnegie Library and is now the city's history museum <https://www.historycenterslo.org/>. My parents would let me explore the stacks and choose any book I wanted. I'm still grateful.
Not a luncheonette, but reminded of the Greek coffee shop near the Library. Masters of Grilled Cheese on Rye, pickles or not.