With all the recent news of the renovations that Belle Isle Public Library with be undoubtedly put through over the next year or so, I returned there for the first time in about two decades. It looked like plenty of renovations have already taken place over the years—I hardly recognized anything. Where’s the microfiche machine?
Not surprisingly, there were so many computers now, all full of teenagers watching YouTube videos that I had to admit this wasn’t exactly the Belle Isle I remembered. Sighing dismissively, I took the elevator down to the bottom floor; as the metal doors parted, my heart broke as I noticed the payphone was gone, replaced with a small bench of sorts.