Field Trip to Meet the Mayor & Tour the Library

Last week I went with Drew's 3rd grade class to tour the new CDA Library and have a question & answer session with our Mayor Sandi Bloem. There was also a councilman there who happens to be one of Drew's friend's grandfather. It was really neat, they answered every question the kiddos had; Some were great, some were funny, all were entertaining! One of the Library representatives taught us about the history of Coeur d Alene, it was really interesting. I took pics of the "Heritage Wall" they have in the library. It has several pictures from the turn of the century and explains how Coeur d Alene was developed. They have an interactive laptop next to the wall which you can read in depth about every photo. They also have (some are on micro fish) every single newspaper dating back to the 1800's. All the names you see on the wall are families or businesses who donated $10,000 or more to the libraries construction. They had to also be a member of the community for 20 years or more I think. Does it mean I am old/nerdy that I liked this? LOL! The library is AMAZING. It is so homey & welcoming. It has several places with fireplaces and chairs where you can just read or relax with a laptop with tons of windows and many lake views. I LOVE the pic of the kiddos with Mrs. Olin their teacher. She was also Haliee's teacher and is the best! She was diagnosed with breast cancer when Haliee was in her class and only took a little time off during surgery/chemo because she loves the kiddos and teaching and wanted to be there. She kept them in the loop and really handled it amazingly. She made my kiddos respect the need to raise awareness and has impacted them in such a great way. She does however always call me on my obsession with my kiddos and gets on to me about letting them grow up, lol. LOVE her! She is a stinker! The open books were on pillars on the stairwell and were notes from donators. The huge moose bookends were donated by a family who actually had them in their house, CRAZY!

The Heritage Wall

Meeting Mayor Bloem. This is also where the city council meets and it has a built in recording studio as they air all the meetings.

The back of the library that looks out over McQuen Field, you can see the lake from here & it is so beautiful. The fountain/water feature is pretty too.

This is Mudgy. He is a moose from the story (actually a few stories) "Mudgy & Millie" written by a local author. There are several Mudgy & Millie statues around Coeur d Alene also constructed by a local artist. There is a map directing you to find them. The kids LOVE this! Mrs. Olin claimed the artist made the statues full of rebar and capable of handling kiddos climbing all over them. I was slightly (ok greatly) uncomfortable with them doing this, but but I dealt, lol!