An interesting view in the Galleries of Syracuse

/ August 23, 2015

For a business meeting for one of my freelance gigs this week, the boss suggested the public library located in the Galleries of Syracuse.

That’s the shiny mall that opened in downtown in 1987.

I showed you the outside of the place after a walk with fellow blogger and friend Jim McKeever in March.

I got there a few minutes ahead of my colleague, and enjoyed my view at the second-floor rail.

Lobbying for more business.

Lobbying for more business.

The first floor looks half empty, I thought, knowing that the major tenants are the Sutherland Corp.’s call center and the Onondaga County Library’s main branch upstairs. In fact, a whole wing of the main floor is closed for construction.

Looking up.

Looking up.

Nevertheless, the beauty up high inspired my iPhone 6 to click away.

Come on in.

Come on in.

And how would a place notorious for shushing work for a business meeting, I wondered?

Just fine, it turned out, as we rode the elevator to the fourth floor, found a table for two, and talked about organizational plans and hopes for music events in a reasonable voice for more than an hour. Nobody looked our way with a raised eyebrow.

Have you ever met in a public library before with the purpose of having a discussion? Do you think your closest downtown is vibrant or stagnant, and why? Which is your favorite photo, and why?

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67 thoughts on “An interesting view in the Galleries of Syracuse”

  1. My favorite view is “Looking Up.” The Galleries is truly a treasure in downtown Syracuse, but it’s one I rarely got to visit when I lived there. I was usually sidetracked by The Carousel Mall which had a Border’s – coffee and books, a great temptation. Great photos, Mark. 😉

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  2. Beautiful pictures ! And the sun is shining in Syracuse! I have just read a book about Louisa May Alcott and what a huge part Syracuse played in the abolitionist cause. Smiles. . .

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  3. As always, love the photography. My favorite is the American flag – I guess I’m a patriot with an eye for Old Glory. I hope your meeting was productive and rewarding. Especially in that cool setting!

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  4. I love the flag shot, Mark. Definitely my favorite.

    The Arlington Heights Memorial Library is one of my village’s jewels. It actually has a Business Center where people who work from home can use it as an extension for networking and other resources. That is just the tip of the iceberg of what it offers.

    http://www.ahml.info/node/125643

    I could ramble on about my library for paragraphs. Let me put it this way. My library is packed on Friday and Saturday nights.

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  5. I loved seeing these lovely pictures of this great place, Mark. I am reluctant to speak in libraries unless we find a small room where we can close the door and not disturb others. I would be nervous, otherwise. Still, the idea of a library located in a mall appeals to me, since they tend to be isolated and since we all go to malls these days more than to libraries (unfortunately!).

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  8. I haven’t been to the library for years for anything other than work purposes. But I pass the local one often, and it always has people coming and going. Seems to still be a happening place.

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    • The library was an original tenant, which I thought was pretty cool, Van. I hope your mall gets filled, somehow. We have another lbrary branch in a failing mall in the suburbs, Shoppingtown. 😦 Thanks for your kind words about my photo of the huge flag above the fray. 🙂

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  12. I like the flag on high, Mark.
    My downtown is vibrant. I think because the city seeks constant improvement.
    I suppose if the library had small rooms for conferring, like the university libraries, it’d be good, but otherwise, no.

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  14. I have met in libraries for study groups – ages ago. I like the shot of the inside of the mall – very interesting. It looks almost – industrial. I never heard of a library being in a mall. Unusual concept. Of course, I avoid malls like the plague, I become crazy when I am in a mall – too many people, too much noise and little people (people shorter than me) wanting me to move over so they can walk side by side in a line of four. Last time I was in a mall, while on vacation, I had my boys with me – and it was like the parting of the Red Sea – I guess because they are so massively tall.
    Hope your meeting went well.

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  15. I’ve never met in a library, but I enjoy meetings in public places. My favourite picture, Mark, is the one looking up at the skylight with the American Flag. It seems to say something about ideals and living up to them to me. Make sense? ❤
    Diana xo

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  16. Libraries are worth every cent that goes their way, via public support or my overdue fines. I’m partial to my Fayetteville library, housed in the former Stickley furniture factory. It’s a beautiful space, and there’s a furniture museum upstairs that contains a special Stickley chair made for the Dalai Lama on one of his visits to the area. The library has plenty of quiet areas and community spaces, including a small cafe. Can’t beat it — especially since it’s around the corner from my house. Its proximity was a factor in my choice of where to live.

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  17. Our Quaint beach town has a lovely (newer) Library. Although, we have all the newest technology I can not help myself, I love holding a real book in my hands at night to read. We visit the Library frequently as I am an avid reader and my gang loves books also. I see people I know there every time we visit but I have never had any meeting at a Library. “Quiet Zone”. Have a good day! The Gatorette.

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  18. oh, what a beautiful place this is – i love meeting at the library and i’m really happy in my downtown location, we take the grandies there all the time and they love it too.

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  19. It is a beautiful building. I like the photo looking up to the American flag. Don’t think I would ever think of a library as a place to discuss anything since I always think about keeping my voice down and not talking there but I guess it could work.

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  23. A library in a mall, who thinks of these things? I must get my sister to bring me there sometime when I visit her (she lives in Liverpool). Utica Public Library has a cafe, which I believe would be better for a meeting. Nobody expects silence and you can get a beverage.

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  24. Great shots, Mark. I like the ‘Welcome’ shot best.
    I have never met anyone in a library for discussing stuff. As Ann stated, it wouldn’t be right – there is often a silence policy. A nice place for a meeting was the National Railway Museum in York, though. There is a tiny ‘restaurant’ right between the historical trains.

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  25. I’m too afraid of bothering people around me to talk out loud in a library, Mark. I have spent lots of quiet times in lots of libraries, though, starting when I was a little girl. And I enjoyed visiting this one with you, today.

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