I wish my desk lit up, too.

Behold the marvelous children's circulation desk at the public library in Champaign, Illinois. It lights up and changes colors:

Taking pictures in libraries is awkward, what with all the people studying and browsing. But this awkwardness didn't stop me.

Too pretty to leave un-photographed, no?

I took these pictures on a road trip with my friend Amber last week. Our mission? To check out some graduate programs in library science. Naturally, we also spied on the public library systems near the grad programs.

And Champaign's public library is a win.

Signs don't get much more awesome than this.

Other things that make Champaign fun, besides the Jane Addams Book Shop*:

The artwork taking shape on this fence downtown.

Pekara Bakery and Bistro, which makes great sandwiches, cookies, and crepes. We know this because we went there twice in one day. Amber took this picture after we finished a delicious, berry-filled crepe.

Colorful tabletop at one of the gajillion Espresso Royale coffeeshops in Champaign.

The Sousa Archives at the state university in Illinois. I'm a trumpet player, and I've never enjoyed playing his marches, so yes, I took pictures of period shoes instead of his sheet music.

The Art Theater, a lovely 98-year-old theater.

It was very hot inside, though. One of the owners of the Art Theater came in before the film we saw to explain that the old building isn't set up for air conditioning, and the unit they do have is too noisy to run during a movie. So they shut it off, and we roasted. But it was worth it. If you get a chance, I recommend seeing Beginners.** It made me laugh, cry, and wish my pet came with subtitles, too. Here's the trailer:

__________________________________________________
*The Jane Addams Book Shop might be America's coolest used bookstore. Remember?
**Beginners is rated R for a reason, though, and is probably not suitable for an all-ages family movie night--which is too bad, because that subtitled dog is so cute.