Website: http://www.kclibrary.org/central
Cost: Free, but be warned that YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR PARKING. Parking is 1 buck every 20 minutes with a max of 8.00. You can have your parking ticket validated and get a free hour. But chances are you will be here long enough to pay the 8 bucks, I did. The parking garage is located on Baltimore, directly across from the library.
Review:
Fucking awesome, no other way to say it. I recomend this for anyone and everyone that has kids of any age. From the 5 month old to the teenager. It's that awesome.
So let's start. The parking garage itself is made to look like a bunch of books. Way cool. The library used to be an old bank and the look was very cool. All columns and granite. The first floor is very majestic looking and your first impression is that you don't your kids to wreck anything, but stick with me, it's ok. I did enjoy the architecture of the place. It was very cool. On the bottom floor is a cafe as well where you can enjoy a quick snack while you read your books.
Now head up to the second floor which is the kids section and this is where the awesomeness starts. It's huge. It's the entire floor and it's awesome. In the middle is a big mural and large cow that they demand the kids climb on, but do please take off your shoes first. The rest of the second floor is broken into sections and they are very well done. They are set according to age groups, from baby, toddler and on up. A ton of books are laid out so that the kids don't have to go to any of the stacks. Each section also has kid sized over stuffed chairs and grown up chairs as well. Finally, there are toys there as well. We played with huge lego blocks. Basically your kids can go apeshit here without embarrassment. The librians are also awesome as they came to us to tell us about some of the activities that the library's have on Fridays.
Next head on up to the fifth floor. This is where the rooftop garden is located. This is also way cool. If the weather is nice you will want to visit this. It has patio style tables with umbrellas, the garden of course and a life sized chess set. I don't know if you can eat lunch up there but I bet you could. It's also a great picture spot as there are tall buildings behind it.
And if you have time after all that, you might want to visit the Vault. We didn't do this but this is what we were told. If you call ahead and reserve it, you then can bring your kids and a MOVIE THAT YOU OWN on DVD and then watch it on the big screen in the Vault. We only found out this later and but are so going back to watch some big screen Dora.
There are a ton of things that make this worth it and it's a safe place to take any of your kids without to much worry.
As for lunch, if you want to eat there, a Jason's Deli is located just 2 blocks north on Main street. If you get there at 11:30 you won't have any problem getting a seat. I also mention this because Jason's deli did something way cool. 2 of the kids that went didn't like the hotdogs. So the staff there said don't worry about it and brought them 2 PB and J sandwiches, free of charge. Way awesome and really just made the day that much better.
This is a 3 hour activity if you include lunch and it's worth it.
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