Speaking of library envy… Seattle Public Library is open and getting lots and lots of pictures taken of it. I’m sort of smitten with the weird crazy colors in it; they were one of the things I was going to miss about the interim location they had been in. This has also got to be one of the smartest ideas for placement of Dewey numbers that I’ve seen. SPL was really the first library system I worked for [as a VISTA volunteer] after getting out of library school, so despite all my kvetching about them I have always sort of been rooting for them to get it together.
Category: libraries
Seattle Public not for everyone
The new Seattle Public library which just opened seems to have pretty widespread appeal but not everyone adores it. At some level, I’d be worried if they did.
the interior takes its design cues from shopping malls rather than from successful older libraries. Circulation patterns inside the building are far from readily apparent, just like the most up-to-date shopping malls where the design goal is to keep the customer a prisoner of commerce. Indeed the building is likely to be a nightmarish place for anyone with even the slightest touch of agoraphobia.
late nights in the Hamilton library
I really really wonder what it is like to work there
The Library That Puts on Fishnets and Hits the Disco. Look at it. Read about it. I find myself almost stupidly hopeful for this building and this library. maybe we can learn a lesson about the perpetual perfunctoriness of many of our spaces and learn that just because it’s uberfunctional, it doesn’t need to be staid. [nyt, thanks bookofjoe]
more public library data
Librarybug is just a fancy front end to this dataset circa 2001 from the National Center for Education Statistics. Check out the number of ways you can search it. Looks like there’s just over a thousand public libraries that have a service population of 1,000 or less. Interesting. [thanks rteeter]