The Public Library of Brookline is a magnificent building inside and out. Tourists and locals alike flock to the Boston Public Library (and for good reason), but I prefer this lesser known gem, which has an impressive history of its own. Though the library itself was established in 1857, the present building dates from 1910 and is probably most well known for it's lovely, oak-paneled reference room. I find myself here on most winter weekends, embracing the cold on my walk there and then distracting myself from it by the books that await me. It has been an eventful winter in Boston, dominated by frigid temperatures and snow that temper my yearning to explore elsewhere, even beyond my own neighborhood.
So instead, I hibernate within the walls of this library or my apartment, exploring new worlds within the books I hold in my dry, dry hands.