Can you have that much fun at a library?

Those squiggles are all letters!

Herzog and De Meuron look pretty intense but I bet they were lego masters in elementary school.  You know, the kind of kids that work for days in silent concentration in the corner and eventually reveal a masterpiece that makes the rest of the class gasp in awe?  Their new library, actually it is The Information, Communication and Media Center (ICMC),  at The Technical University of Cottbus in Germany, looks like it could have been designed with legos if they came in circles and spirals.  

It is another one of those brand new fun libraries, capital FUN, that makes the rest of the libraries look uptight.  I’m not sure if it’s the seven story glass exterior wall imprinted with letters from different alphabets, the bright red, dark blue, magenta, green and yellow color scheme or the giant, colorful spiral staircase that rises through its center or the combination of all these features that create the delightful aura, I just know it’s one of those buildings that make you want to stand in the middle with your mouth open.

  

I told you it was fun!

The library cost a cool 29 million Euros to build and holds 900,000 books.  Cottbus is not far from Berlin, very close to the Poland’s border.  Herzog and DeMeuron is a Swiss architecture firm that has designed four building in the United States (there is a map on their website) but none of them bring on a smile like this library, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

A Better Ballard

OK, I’ll admit it, I thought the story of the library in America would be set on the East Coast.  I mean, wasn’t the rest of the country struggling for survival, making log cabins and panning for gold when the first reading room at the Boston Public Library opened?  Not really, they were building Carnegie Libraries just like everyone else.  The West Coast might have gotten a late start but they learned fast - Seattle is an absolute library mecca.  Central library is a phenomenon of its own but then there are the 26 branch libraries.  Six current branches are on the National Register of Historic Places, several have been declared landmarks by the Landmark Preservation Board and the new Ballard Branch is LEED Certified.  

I wasn’t surprised to find Andrew Carnegie’s name in the history of libraries in Seattle, his name has turned up as patron saint of libraries across the entire country.  Carnegie’s first library grant in Seattle came four days after most of the library’s collection went up in smoke in the Yesler Mansion.  The mansion belonged to Henry Yesler, a saw mill owner and Seattle’s first millionaire and was donated to the library at his death in 1892 as a permanent home for the transient library, then it burned to the ground in 1901 and the library was homeless and bookless.  Carnegie made a deal with city officials; he would donate a whopping  $200,000 to build a ‘fireproof’  library if they would buy the site and guarantee $50,000/year for maintenance.  When Carnegie sent off his hefty check he noted, “I like your pluck.”

At the turn of the century, Ballard, WA was a small fishing town outside of Seattle.  They built their own Carnegie Library in 1901 with the help of the Dewey Women’s Christian Temperance Union (the group was doing their best to encourage activities that did not include alcohol).  The classic revival building included a men’s smoking room,  ladies conversation room and a large auditorium.  When they opened, with very few books, residents were encouraged to visit and “bring a book to start the collection.”  There is an entertaining and detailed history of the branch at HistoryLink.org.

In 1907 Ballard was annexed by Seattle and the library became its first branch.  It certain has grown up since then...as part of the “Libraries For All” bond, the Ballard Branch, now located at 5614 22nd Ave. N.W., was rebuilt in 2005 as a library and neighborhood center for $10.6 million.  The design, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is breathtaking (check out their photos).  The swooping recycled pine beams are perched atop a delicate glass and metal base and, although it is ultra-modern, it feels warm and welcoming.  The branch vibe is young, ambitious and vibrant and, coolest of all, it has a sod roof planted with 18,000 low-water-use plants.  Wait, I lied, it gets cooler...there is a PERISCOPE in the library so you can check out the roof and the mountain views.  Hold on, cooler still... the artwork in the library is a LED display that interprets data from weather instruments on the roof and triggers patterns of motion.   Even Andrew Carnegie couldn't make up this incredible, imaginative stuff, it took the artists Donald Fels, Andrew Schloss and Dale Stammen to do that along with the vision of the Seattle Public Library.

Inside Looking Out

I was so enthralled by Joshua Prince-Ramus’s explanation (and delivery) of the design process of the Seattle Public Library that I didn’t even have time to go inside for a tour yesterday.  But today is a new day and I have a new appreciation and understanding of modern library design.  My journey on this blog is to learn, think and grow each day, so mission accomplished.
In we go... the Seattle Public Library opened the doors on its eleven story masterpiece in May, 2004.  During the first year they hosted 8,000 visitors a day, I can’t even imagine 8,000 in my town let alone in the library, but it is a considerable space...doubling their numbers from the previous year.  There are several amateur tours of the library on youtube which give you the feeling of the atrium area that defines many of the floors.  It is particularly powerful upon entering the ‘Living Room’ on the 3rd level and gazing up fifty feet.  This space was designed with the knowledge that it was one of the few free public spaces available in the city and there is plenty of room for people to hang out, meet, eat, or just get warm.  
From the living room you can go down to the first level and into the children’s room - this space has its own entrance, computers, check-out and restrooms - obviously librarians and parents provide valuable insight to this design.  I can just picture my wild child loose in the living room and headed for the escalator - imagine how those little shrieks of joy would echo!  The children’s room offers story time in several languages and there is an extensive language lab and auditorium (it can seat up to 450 people).
Going back upstairs, the sixth through ninth floors of the library are an amazing continuous spiral of non-fiction books arranged in Dewey Decimal order, the numbers are painted right on the floor as you walk past each row of shelves (Melville would be proud).  The design allows the collection to grow without leading patrons on a wild goose chase between different areas of the library.  Ramus calls it a “parking garage for books”, a great way to visualize the space.  
My favorite space in most libraries is the reading room and Seattle’s is outstanding.  The Betty Jane Narver Reading Room is 12,000 square feet of skylit space on the 10th floor (with views of Elliott Bay) and has space for 400 readers!  Betty Jane Narver was a long time advocate of the Seattle  library and helped form the library foundation board in 1980.  Her death in 2001 prevented her from seeing this finished masterpiece but I can think of no greater memorial than this spectacular spot.
There is also a lovely gift shop, Friendshop, operated by ‘Friends of the Library’ and a coffee cart run by the Seattle based company Chocolati.  These are both small and don’t steal the focus from the important thing:  the books.
Phew - we are so lucky to have the Seattle Public Library to demonstrate what a library can be for a community, not only a place to read, learn and gather but also a monument to announce to the world who we are and we stand for...when I see this library I see Seattle as an authentic place, dedicated to supporting their community and committed to the advancement of the next generation.

A Jewel In The Crown

The words ‘Goldman Sachs’ never reminded me of the library - until today.  Although I have been to NYC many times to take in all its wonder, I never knew about Battery Park City, a planned community of about 10,000 people established in 1968, but not populated until the 1990s.  The 92 acre area, located at the very tip of Manhattan, was created with excavated rocks and soil from the construction of The World Trade Center and sand dredged from Staten Island.  The neighborhood is bordered by the Hudson River and the financial district and it is home to the World Financial Center.  All in all a pretty nice piece of real estate.  

Michael Moran

One day Goldman Sachs, the now infamous investment banking and securities firm,  moved into the Battery Park City neighborhood and, instead of baking brownies, made a generous donation of $3.5 million towards a spectacular new library (and $1 million toward a new community center).  The city and state added an addition $6.7 million and, viola, the Battery Park City Library was born.  

Located at 175 North End Avenue, the library is a 10,000 square foot jewel … if I lived in NYC I would be hopping on the subway with my little terrors in tow and barging right in to lounge on the built in couches, plop into the bean bags, read magazines in the recycled chairs, and log onto one of the 36 computers (I’m sure the patrons would love that).  The space is not only bright, airy, modern and fun but it is also the first of the NYPL branches to be LEED certified.  The rugs are made from old tires, the circulation desk constructed from recycled cardboard and the staircase is crafted from recycled glass chips.  An it is all exquisite.  The branch is a perfect illustration of beauty, function and environmental respect - it will be an ongoing joy and inspiration to the children and families of Battery Park City.  While I know there is a certain standard to uphold in the neighborhoods of the super-wealthy, I wonder if the added expense of such a space is appreciated, were residents really after a beautiful place to read and play with their kids or did they want a design showplace.  Again, the current state of libraries in America rears it not-so-pretty head an reminds us that the rich get beautiful libraries and the poor get what they get (and they should be grateful).      

Happy Birthday!

Martin Luther King Jr.  week arrived in 4th grade and  I started wondering about King’s papers and documents  - could there be a new library to explore?  Actually, there are many MLK  libraries to explore but let’s start with ‘The King Library and Archives’ located at The King Center in Atlanta.  The library has preserved King’s papers and is home to records, interviews and documents of people and organizations that are crucial to understanding the Civil Rights Movement in America.
The center is located at 449 Auburn Ave, SE in Atlanta and was built by Coretta Scott King in 1968 - it features exhibits to teach the public about MLK Jr., Coretta Scott King and Mahatma Gandhi, and it’s the site of MLK Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s graves.  The website has lots of goodies, including a beautiful introduction with  King’s  ‘The Drum Major Instinct’, a video clip of King receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, a link to Martin Luther King III’s article about his dad’s speech and an online gift shop!

Sixteen libraries are listed as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. libraries in Wikipedia - way too many to visit in one night … so I headed  to San Jose, CA to a particularly interesting venture between San Jose State University and the City of San Jose.  This Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. library, finished in 2003, was the first in America to combine a major university and a city library - a simple, powerful concept - more books, less overhead.

Check out the eight story glass atrium pouring sunlight over 475,000 square feet of library - home to over 1.3 million volumes (don’t worry, the books aren’t left out in the sunlight).   The city and university worked together to create spaces for everyone and everything, from contemplation to connection - more resort than library by New England standards.  Stop on the first four floors to hang out with friends and have a coffee, or drop by the teen or children’s  room.  Take an elevator ride straight to the top and enjoy a quiet space for reading, thinking and learning, the 8th floor reading room.  

This is a collaborative community project to celebrate.  But what about the historic libraries that would have to come down in order to create these new, improved spaces.  Is it possible to preserve our history while moving forward?  Of course it’s possible, it’ll just cost you.
 New York Times Editorial (on the destruction of Penn Station)- "We will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."