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I nearly didn't go. I was lazy and comfortable and thought i might not go out to see the library after all but really, there was no excuse so i put on my coat and went. The weather wasn't even too cold or icky, quite nice for this time of year, actually. The new library is really beautiful, I think. I've been watching it go up and taking photos of it as it was constructed and I was excited to see the inside. It was pretty busy but I was talking to one of the staff and she said there were over a thousand in there that morning when they opened the doors. I figured as much which is why i went later in the afternoon. My other reason was so that I could take photos of the exterior at night when it was lit up inside. Beautiful!
There are five floors. The top floor looks like an afterthought, smaller and hitched on at an angle but when you look at the whole building, there are other corners and angles and it's meant to look like a stack of books. The overhanging angled bit on top is mainly public space. There's a group of comfy chairs in the front section with great views over the city and a cafe in the back section. I can't remember if there are any books at all on that level. Something tells me no. there's also a "green" roof garden and you can go outside on a little deck that faces the harbour. Nice touch.
There are a couple of small theatre spaces for performances, several specialized sections such as the First Nations' Circle with resources and the African Nova Scotian section and a glass walled room for local NS history. Nice touches. The main floor seems to be a bit of everything as far as books go. Kind of like various shelves of new releases and top picks for a wide variety of categories from children to fiction and non-fiction, travel, biographies. There is a cafe on the ground floor as well and a big information desk. There are self checkout stations and computer stations where you can search the catalogue. I think there's free wifi but i didn't test it out. They also have small booths on one floor for study with electrical outlets for laptops. There are a few places that have comfy seating all over. The main colour scheme is white with accents and furniture in orange and green. Some of the bookshelves are white and many are black. The big feature of the building is that all the floors are open, that is, from the ground in the centre you can look straight up to the top floor. All the floors circle around the centre open area and there are walkways that cross the open spaces and stairs to the next floor down which lead on an angle. Three elevators, of course, because you have to have mobility access. Lots of toilets. Lots of natural light. They mean for it to be more than just books, that it should be a gathering place for the community as well.
Here are the photos I took yesterday.
( And in keeping with the theme, more 2014 books finished )
There are five floors. The top floor looks like an afterthought, smaller and hitched on at an angle but when you look at the whole building, there are other corners and angles and it's meant to look like a stack of books. The overhanging angled bit on top is mainly public space. There's a group of comfy chairs in the front section with great views over the city and a cafe in the back section. I can't remember if there are any books at all on that level. Something tells me no. there's also a "green" roof garden and you can go outside on a little deck that faces the harbour. Nice touch.
There are a couple of small theatre spaces for performances, several specialized sections such as the First Nations' Circle with resources and the African Nova Scotian section and a glass walled room for local NS history. Nice touches. The main floor seems to be a bit of everything as far as books go. Kind of like various shelves of new releases and top picks for a wide variety of categories from children to fiction and non-fiction, travel, biographies. There is a cafe on the ground floor as well and a big information desk. There are self checkout stations and computer stations where you can search the catalogue. I think there's free wifi but i didn't test it out. They also have small booths on one floor for study with electrical outlets for laptops. There are a few places that have comfy seating all over. The main colour scheme is white with accents and furniture in orange and green. Some of the bookshelves are white and many are black. The big feature of the building is that all the floors are open, that is, from the ground in the centre you can look straight up to the top floor. All the floors circle around the centre open area and there are walkways that cross the open spaces and stairs to the next floor down which lead on an angle. Three elevators, of course, because you have to have mobility access. Lots of toilets. Lots of natural light. They mean for it to be more than just books, that it should be a gathering place for the community as well.
Here are the photos I took yesterday.
( And in keeping with the theme, more 2014 books finished )