Cambridge main public library
Nov. 23rd, 2009 08:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI finally made it over to the new building for the first time. It's definitely a library, and yet, it's going to take a bit of time for me to get used to it. Yeah, the old building had many issues, but it felt like a library, not to be confused with anything else. The new building, while very nice in many ways, has that feeling more in the part of the old building, while the new building is... sleek, in a way that wouldn't say library were there not *quite* so many books.
In looking around the library website, I found the layout of where things are, and no wonder I miss the old library: only some of the space on the first floor of the old building is regularly accessible to the public (Notice, however, how prominent the old building is in the first photo of their slide show.). Granted, it includes a proper reading room, and the murals restored, which is excellent. Also a teen room, which is a fine idea (having it separate from the kids room), but it seems a bit strange to have the most futuristic room (with interesting colored light panels on the walls, brighter and bluer light than in the rest of the area, etc) in the old building, when the new building lends itself to that.
Going into the new main entrance (which is the only entrance from the street; I miss the stone steps of the old, though the new is lighter, brighter, and accessible), the place feels light and airy. I was there after dark, and I realized that for me, floor to ceiling windows like that make me feel a bit more exposed than I like, especially on the first floor (that's a lifelong thing; I remember similar issues at the house we moved into when I was 6). The first floor has all the new and shiny: new books, new magazines, other media available for borrowing. The floor above has most of the nonfiction, and the third floor is the children's room.
There are two below-ground levels in the new building. The lowest one isn't accessible except for events, while the level just below ground has fiction, sf, and graphic novels. There's much more space on the shelves for expansion, but I was left with the impression that perhaps the collection had been culled before moving into the new space. And the transition feels abrupt: above, it's high ceilings and lots of light. Below, it's lower ceilings and blank walls (all white except one accent wall). It felt confining and sterile in contrast, as if one is supposed to find one's books and get out of there.
The only floor open to the public in the old building is the ground floor. It has an area with books in the 600s, a reading room that is a much better use of the space than what it used to be (the new books area), with yellower lighting, wood paneling, and fabulous (now restored) murals. That flows into what used to be the area off the lobby that had too much crammed into it: new sf, music, reference desk, and computer card catalogs. Now it's a more coherent space, which is great. And off of that, where the old stacks used to be, is the aforementioned teen room.
Some of my mixed review is just the strangeness of overwriting old memories/layout for new, and some is nostalgia, definitely (my old geezerness is showing!). I suspect I'll be happier with the new library as I find more of the bonuses of having a thought-out, well-designed building to complement the skills of the staff.
In looking around the library website, I found the layout of where things are, and no wonder I miss the old library: only some of the space on the first floor of the old building is regularly accessible to the public (Notice, however, how prominent the old building is in the first photo of their slide show.). Granted, it includes a proper reading room, and the murals restored, which is excellent. Also a teen room, which is a fine idea (having it separate from the kids room), but it seems a bit strange to have the most futuristic room (with interesting colored light panels on the walls, brighter and bluer light than in the rest of the area, etc) in the old building, when the new building lends itself to that.
Going into the new main entrance (which is the only entrance from the street; I miss the stone steps of the old, though the new is lighter, brighter, and accessible), the place feels light and airy. I was there after dark, and I realized that for me, floor to ceiling windows like that make me feel a bit more exposed than I like, especially on the first floor (that's a lifelong thing; I remember similar issues at the house we moved into when I was 6). The first floor has all the new and shiny: new books, new magazines, other media available for borrowing. The floor above has most of the nonfiction, and the third floor is the children's room.
There are two below-ground levels in the new building. The lowest one isn't accessible except for events, while the level just below ground has fiction, sf, and graphic novels. There's much more space on the shelves for expansion, but I was left with the impression that perhaps the collection had been culled before moving into the new space. And the transition feels abrupt: above, it's high ceilings and lots of light. Below, it's lower ceilings and blank walls (all white except one accent wall). It felt confining and sterile in contrast, as if one is supposed to find one's books and get out of there.
The only floor open to the public in the old building is the ground floor. It has an area with books in the 600s, a reading room that is a much better use of the space than what it used to be (the new books area), with yellower lighting, wood paneling, and fabulous (now restored) murals. That flows into what used to be the area off the lobby that had too much crammed into it: new sf, music, reference desk, and computer card catalogs. Now it's a more coherent space, which is great. And off of that, where the old stacks used to be, is the aforementioned teen room.
Some of my mixed review is just the strangeness of overwriting old memories/layout for new, and some is nostalgia, definitely (my old geezerness is showing!). I suspect I'll be happier with the new library as I find more of the bonuses of having a thought-out, well-designed building to complement the skills of the staff.
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-24 01:23 am (UTC)Feels new and modern, as well as old and bookish. Quite a triumph.
I'm pretty happy with the new/old convergence in the Arlington Public as well.
I'd be eager to hear your thoughts, if you know them.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-24 02:05 am (UTC)The only old/new library I'm familiar with is Boston's, at Copley, where I find that the old building is gorgeous, and the new building feels like it could easily be turned into concrete bunkers, were there the need.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-24 02:24 am (UTC)And of course I know my way to the knitting books, and they even have a few back copies of Interweave Knits.
-OT, we got you something in Vermont. So now we have to meet soon!
no subject
Date: 2009-11-24 01:34 pm (UTC)And it would be good to see you! It's been far too long.