public room

Two readings were held in the library’s public room to accommodate the crowd.

Critics on the left blasted the library system ahead of the event for hosting Mr. Cameron and the other authors, although the library had little choice, given that Brave Books reserved a public room open to all.

At the downtown branch of the Des Moines Public Library, a handful of people were slumped in chairs in a lobby and in a public room on Thursday afternoon, where three flat-screen TVs played the movie “Elf.”

“I was reading it in a public room on the ship and laughing so hard that I embarrassed my wife, who banished me to our cabin,” Richard wrote.

In a double height public room on the first floor, a terrazzo staircase leading to a mezzanine features a delicate carve-out in each riser so as to better accommodate the foot.