Classical Bookworm

Buckhead Library Update

In February I posted about the Buckhead Public Library, a modern architectural gem in the city of Atlanta, which was in danger of being replaced by a parking garage as part of a massive new development. Thanks to all the public opposition, the library board voted to reject the offer to purchase the property, and the County did not include the purchase in their new library plan, effectively quashing the deal. Moreover, they plan to spend $150 million to renew and expand their library system, including the building of eight new libraries. Way to go Atlanta!

Etagère Pour Livres by Philippe Nigro

Etagère pour livres, Philippe Nigro, 2005 (France).
[VIA catalogue, p. 25]

I saw this wonderful bookshelf on the Bookshelf blog (where else?). I love it not only for its beautiful and interesting design but also because it reminds me of the "Books Spiral" at the Seattle Public Library. The Books Spiral is four connected levels of gently sloping floors holding the nonfiction collection in one continuous band. This allows for the easy rearrangement of books and prevents categories from being broken up on to different floors. Here are a couple of views:

Libraries Re-open Next Week!!

And all the bookworms in the house say:

They won. The librarians got pay equity. But what an ordeal the politicians put us all through. It took weeks of relentless public pressure to get any movement whatsoever, and even then the response was lame. The employers thought they could weasel their way out of paying fair wages by looking at other library systems, but, as was later revealed, our library staff are underpaid even compared to other library systems. The last straw was the very organized public protests last week, which included a very amusing story-time-in at the chief negotiator's office. The municipalities finally coughed up the required money and the resolution happened almost overnight.

Here's an insight into the dunderheadedness that the library staff were up against:

"I'm very glad to see staff back in," said the library's chief executive officer, Barry Holmes. "Libraries have books and all sorts of material, but really, they're about people. It's not the same if you don't have people."

No shit, Sherlock.

Library staff are already back at work to deal with the huge backlog of shelving and other tasks. It will get worse before it gets better because patrons loaded up on books when we heard the lockout was coming and they will all be flooding back in over the next two weeks. I can't wait for the online resources to be restored. I miss my free newspapers, journal articles, and OED. Now, where did I put all those library books...?

The British Library's Architect-Philosopher

Here's a marvellous article about the British Library's architect, the late Colin (Sandy) St John Wilson. It is full of quotable paragraphs, but I think I'll stick to this inspiring comment from the man himself:

A great library is like a coral reef whose exquisite structure as it grows proliferates a living network of connectedness, and its ramification is all of a piece, like knowledge itself - the knowledge that bridges the endless curiosity of the human mind, from the first pictogram to the latest microchip.

Do read the whole thing at The Guardian.

via Rare Book News

Library Lockout Update

Here's the situation as the union sees it:

• Without a contract: 436 Days
• Waiting to Bargain: 187 Days
• Locked Out: 24 Days
• Salaries and benefits unpaid due to lockout: $519,928.00
• Value of service lost to the public so far: $2,675,524.00

Here's the situation as the faithful patrons see it:

Photo: smallestbones

Ferris' Chair of Wonder

Dubya's Library

The Chronicle of Higher Education asked its readers to submit design ideas for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Their talented and creative audience did not disappoint, and you can now vote on their concepts. Here are a couple of my favourites (click to go to the full size versions):

via Book Patrol

Book Club of the Street

I just read a really interesting article about a book club at a homeless shelter in Cleveland. Men who have no bookshelves, not even their own chair or bed to read in, are reading two books a month thanks to a partnership between the Cleveland Public Library and the 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter.

"We love books," said Willie Griggs, who has had heart surgery and walks with a cane. "We don't have a TV we can carry around with us."

Instead of watching TV in one of the living areas, called "communities," 15 men came to talk about Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes."

The shelter nurse says that it's easier to broach sensitive subjects after talking about the books the men are reading. What I find touching is that reading stories helps the men deal with their own life stories.

[Nurse] Kelly has found that the men are more open to counsel on health-related topics, such as how to talk to a doctor, when it relates to the experience of a character in a book they love. Sometimes, the book club has spurred its members to make more significant changes. For instance, during a book club field trip to hear an author's talk, one man acknowledged his alcohol problem and said he was ready to see a counselor.

...

Kelly has noticed that participants "pick the place where the character is at the crossroads." They know they're at the same point, and they're trying to get someplace better.

I know urban public libraries also function as homeless shelters—maybe instead of just leaving these people alone and isolated they should be invited to read together. They probably have enthusiastic readers in their midst and don't even know it.

They Paved the Public Library, Put Up a Parking Lot

Sticking with library issues, Book Patrol posted about a public library in Atlanta which may be bulldozed to make way a huge new mixed-use development. The problem with this is that the building is a work of art. The Buckhead library, built in 1989 and designed by Scogin-Elam, has won multiple awards for its avant garde architecture. Now a developer wants to buy it from the city and replace it with... wait for it... a parking garage. It's not all bad news, though. The developer has very generously offered to build a new library on top of the parkade, with access via an elevator.

(I'll just wait while you all finish wailing in horror and despair...)

You can help by signing a petition to save the library. And do pop over to Flickr to see more photos of Buckhead's exciting architecture. Atlantans don't seem to know how lucky they are to have a building like that in their midst. I suppose the developer has to get rid of it because it would make the rest of the development look cheap and soulless. People will accept crap if they don't know anything better is possible.

Some Library Statistics

Here is a sampling of Canadian library statistics that I found via the CUPE 410 discussion forum. It will probably only be of interest to library geeks (I'm looking at you, Danielle & Stefanie!), but I found it interesting.

Population served

Greater Victoria: 293,151
Vancouver Island: 404,806
Vancouver: 584,601
Toronto: 2,503,281

Total expenditures

Greater Victoria: $11,681,006
Vancouver Island: $15,099,200
Vancouver: $39,941,485
Toronto: $164,793,162
Canadian average: $11,665,567