Libraries with great kids' areas around Boston

The public libraries west of Boston are among the best in the country: the Newton Free Library has the highest circulation in the state year after year, the Cambridge Main Library is a glass box grafted onto an old stone building, and Cary in Lexington has a Chinese picture-book collection that feels like a bookstore in Shanghai. Every branch has a children's area with real toys and mats for toddlers. Spending a rainy morning there for free is local-parent consensus.

Newton's children's department is roomy and runs storytimes almost daily; the Cambridge Main Library's children's room looks out through floor-to-ceiling glass onto a lawn with a playground at the door; Cary in Lexington gives the whole lower level to kids; Brookline's main branch opens onto the Green Line and a playground; Wellesley's new building is bright and spacious; Thomas Crane in Quincy runs Chinese-language storytimes. Downtown, the Central Library at Copley is a destination in itself, with murals, a grand staircase and a courtyard fountain.

• 7 places
• 7 free
• 7 stroller-friendly
• closest is 5 min away