Nashville Public Library

November 20, 2005

It's really understating things to call this a "library". They have books to check out, yes, but the sheer size of this place is ridiculous. Katie says it was built about a year and a half ago, so it's pretty much brand new. We ate at the cafe downstairs (where I had gourmet versions of couscous and potato salad, along with a slice of sourdough bread and a slice of chocolate raspberry bread. As we entered, we could hear a harpist and a flutist upstairs, though we didn't finish eating soon enough for me to get photos of them. A gallery displayed the works and collection of a cartoonist from Nashville, and there's a room upstairs devoted to materials referencing the civil rights movement of the 60's. In technical terms, the place was crazy-wacked-out, probably thanks to Nashville's 9.25% sales tax, which replaces the budgetary gap made by having no income tax. Residents get more help from tourists; sounds good to me.