Rockland Synergy

My favorite modern library incarnation is like a tootsie pop with history at the core and sugary convenience wrapped around the outside.  I relish it backwards, first exploring the history, reading each plaque, touching the wood and wrought iron, meditating in the reading room, gazing at the ceiling and examining all the portraits.  After satisfying my need for context and meaning I return to the present and head to the audio books on DVD.

Typically, the old libraries are stiff, dark, formal and imposing while the new libraries are the opposite, bright, light, airy and open.  The juxtaposition is complimentary, offering a taste of a the past with a heaping portion of the future on the side.  

The Rockland Library in Maine has balanced the arrangement gracefully.  The original Carnegie building remains in tact, complete with circulation desk, decorative iron dividers and Carnegie oil portrait.  But the back wall of the library is blown out to accommodate a new sunny addition.  The seam, where the two buildings meet is a glass structure that delicately balances on the original stone.  It allows you to stand back and see the back of the original library from inside the new library. 

The old library is divided between a stately, peaceful reading room and book stacks.  Peace and quiet prevail under Carnegie’s watchful eye.  The children’s room, in the addition, is as far away from the reading room as physically possible.  A perfect arrangement for families who want to read out loud, build block towers and work on puzzles together.  At the turn of the century, architects couldn’t have even imagined needing this space.  Children were not part of the library equation and when they were let out in public they not encouraged to be heard.  

Surprisingly there are only 18 Carnegie libraries in Maine.  Rockland’s was built in 1904 thanks to a $20,000 donation from Carnegie and the addition was added in 2001.  I am confident that the synergy they have accomplished will keep Carnegie smiling for another 100 years.  Who knows what we will build after that.