Beth Bales: Geneva Library Has a 'Secret Garden' Outside and In

When it’s not too hot (as it has been for a lot of this summer) and not too cold (brrrrr ... chilly days ahead in a few months...) a nice and overlooked place to relax with a good book is not-coincidentally right outside the Geneva Public Library.

On the library’s west end, facing primarily Second Street is the , featuring a bronze statue of Nick Bottom from William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, benches, a picnic table, landscaping and, depending on the time of day, shade. In a corner, by the intersection of Second and James streets, is a sundial dedicated to longtime employee Emerson Cox who “devoted 23 years of his retirement to mentor children at the library.” 

It’s a pleasant oasis in downtown Geneva, a perfect spot to open that book just picked up from the library, to eat lunch (as library workers sometimes do) or to enjoy the passing scenery.

Editor's note: The headline reference, of course, is to The Secret Garden, the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which you can find inside the library—probably along with the movie and audiobook versions, as well.