JUNE 26: Author Talk at Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan

I’ve Never Seen a Library Like It!

When Samantha Root, events coordinator with the Ann Arbor District Library, informed me that my book talk would take place not at the Westgate Shopping Center, rather than the Downtown Branch, I didn’t know what to think. Was that a side-lining? A booby prize?

I mean… A library in a shopping center?

Well, I’m here to say that ALL libraries should be like the Ann Arbor District Library Westgate Branch!

You know how Barnes & Noble’s bookstores all include Starbucks, making it easy to stay and read and learn? Ann Arbor’s Westgate Public Library Branch replicates that model with a cafe called Sweetwater’s. When Jim and I arrived to set up, the Westgate Branch was packed — people of all ages with their heads in books!

This modern and uplifting space, what’s more, is a sight to behold — though we forgot, again, to take pics. We shot a few after the library closed and the book talk ended. But it was the first tour event to be live-streamed and published on YouTube. You can watch it here, then join us and our many Ann Arbor hosts for dinner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, also in the Westgate Shopping Center (see pics below).

Big gratitude to Marjorie Zeifert and Chuck Keiffer for organizing this event and the next — and for lending us their Subaru Outback for the week!

Also to State Representative Jennifer Conlin and Daniel Rivkin for offering us a home-away-from-home in Ann Arbor.