enough about librarians (and libertarians), tell me about your favorite LIBRARIES

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i have to put in a good word for the central library in downtown l.a., one of the most beautiful and underrated buildings in the city and a personal sanctuary for yrs truly whenever i'm killing a few hours in the area. they were actually close to demolishing this in the '70s, which wasn't such a radical idea at the time, just another bit of ye olde history-doesn't-exist-here modernist mythmaking and self-fulfilling prophecy. but they didn't demolish it, and a few decades and some nips and tucks later, it's stunning, full of detail, a cross between '30s "spanish" deco (think l.a.'s union station) and a small, vaguely exotic revision of the "city beautiful" ideal.

it's also kinda infamous for being one of the only places downtown where anyone can loiter, sleep, or use the bathroom without being reprimanded by security. downtown l.a. is thought to have the highest concentration of homeless people in the city that's cited widely as being the homeless capital of the united states, and guess where many of them go when they get kicked out of the shelters at sunrise, or just get tired of walking all day and want to take a leak and look at a magazine? libraries are great for stopping, refreshing, collecting yourself. better than starbucks, and cheaper. the central library even has a cafe, if coffee has to be part of the equation.

the elevator is completely amazing -- the walls are clear fiberglass panels with the old printed catalogue cards lined up behind them, floor to ceiling, in alphabetical order. i think this transparent-walls-displaying-cool-innardy-shit is kind of a trendy design concept lately, feeding off the building-materials-mania of a few years ago -- i just heard about an idea for a school (K-12 or somewhere in between) where the building itself would be part of the curriculum and students would get full visual access to the support beams, aluminum siding, wiring, etc. (back when I was a product of NYC's decaying public school system, we didn't need prize-winning architects to see any of this stuff, and we got asbestos as an added bonus.)

anyway, yeah, there are books, and signs that helpfully tell visitors that most of the collection is deep-stacked away somewhere out of reach, and ask for it if you can't find it. but for a main library circa 2007 (libraries in crisis omgwtf), what's on the shelves ain't bad. it just about made my day when i saw a copy of excelsior you fathead.

http://www.westadams-normandie.com/Assets/LAPL.jpg

http://www.magazinusa.com/images_st2/ca/la/Los-Angeles-Central-Library.jpg

― get bent, Friday, 16 March 2007 06:00 (eighteen years ago)

i wish i could have found better pictures... those don't do it justice.

― get bent, Friday, 16 March 2007 06:04 (eighteen years ago)

did i say '30s? it's from 1926. i did compare it to union station, which wasn't built until 1939. it might remind me more of the late-'20s would-be beaux-arts municipal buildings in pasadena, which were already architecturally "retro" at the blueprint stage.

― get bent, Friday, 16 March 2007 07:33 (eighteen years ago)

Sure, of course I love the British Library, in that it has every book ever. But for sheer librariness--lots of open shelves for browsing, old tables, a "thermostat" that's either way too hot or way too cold--I have to go with the Senate House. Plus the building looks like an evil lair (I believe it was used in the Tim Burton Batman flicks).

http://www.charlesholden.com/images/gallery_images/SenateHouse_1.jpg

― G00blar, Friday, 16 March 2007 09:38 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.nmw.ac.uk/change2001/images/senate_house.gif

― G00blar, Friday, 16 March 2007 09:40 (eighteen years ago)

got to rep the hometown library. seattle:

http://www.aianwpr.org/images/2005awardpics/seattle_library.jpg

the carpet isn't nearly as ugly irl, i swear:

http://home.att.net/~jamestata/seattle_library_11.jpg

― jergincito, Friday, 16 March 2007 09:46 (eighteen years ago)

Ha ha, the Senate House is a sham, it's totally hollow, you can walk straight through it! (Used to be my favourite shortcut when I lived in that area.)

I love the whole series of philanthropist libraries in Lambeth - all the Tate and Carnegie edifices, they're beautiful.

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 16 March 2007 10:17 (eighteen years ago)

it also looks rather Soviet, doncha think?

my mother was a librarian although she never worked as one in my lifetime, having given up paid employ for good in 1969. You'd never think that she'd given up to speak to her tho and she still subscribes to the CILIP magazine to this day. I was dragged around various libraries as a child when my mum visited her ex-colleagues (she had worked in about ten different ones in the course of her career) and the one I remember with particular fondness was Bowes Road. It's on the leafy hill of that name leading up from New Southgate towards Arnos Grove and is next door to a municipal swimming pool in typical "let's put all the muncipal amenties together" 1930s stylee. The library itself is up a spiral staircase and is extremely small. The walls of this staircase were painted bright yellow and a strong smell of chlorine emanated from the pool next door.

― Grandpont Genie, Friday, 16 March 2007 10:23 (eighteen years ago)

Senate House also (mythically?) proposed home of Oswald Moseley's Parliament, and Hitler's London pad. You can't say that about Idea Stores.

― Bocken Social Scene, Friday, 16 March 2007 10:40 (eighteen years ago)

I only found out about the Senate House shortcut the other week. Awesome building.

Portsmouth's brutalist library. Designed to resemble a ship though that's hard to tell from this angle.
http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/images/Central_library_rdax_225x177.jpg

― robster, Friday, 16 March 2007 10:52 (eighteen years ago)

it's kinda like a roll-on roll-off ferry from that angle.

― Grandpont Genie, Friday, 16 March 2007 10:53 (eighteen years ago)

i am in a library (right now, american memorial, berlin):

http://www.know-library.net/images/thumb/1/16/180px-Berlin_agb_2.jpg

― jergincito, Friday, 16 March 2007 11:09 (eighteen years ago)

I too am a fan of the Senate House Library. In December I borrowed a book from there on Velazquez. Someone else had borowed it in 1947. It was published in 1896. I loved putting that date on the bibliography of my essay a lot. It was in amazing condition.

Leeds uni library is always full of the books you want. Glasgow uni library is not bad, either. Royal Holloway library smells fusty and the dry air makes you choke, but the building it's in is splendidly Hogwart's.

― Zoe Espera, Friday, 16 March 2007 11:38 (eighteen years ago)

Here are some fantastic pictures of libraries, none of which I've been to (apart from the reading room in the British Museum).

My favourite library, though, is either the New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library (very Gotham City!), or Westminster Abbey's library, which dates from the 15th century and is like something out of The Name of the Rose.

― Neil S, Friday, 16 March 2007 12:18 (eighteen years ago)

Oh! I nearly forgot the Freemasons Hall Library, but those gorgeous library photos on that page reminded me. I love the displays in it.

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 16 March 2007 12:21 (eighteen years ago)

Is that publicly accessible, or are you indeed the Freemason your handle denotes?

― Neil S, Friday, 16 March 2007 12:31 (eighteen years ago)

Save Birmingham Central library.
http://www.riskybuildings.org.uk/docs/19library/index.html

― Ned Trifle II, Friday, 16 March 2007 13:46 (eighteen years ago)

Well, you get to visit it if you tour Freemason's Hall. Though I nearly got mistaken for one and swept up with a whole lodge going into the hall about ten minutes ago!

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 16 March 2007 13:56 (eighteen years ago)

http://static.flickr.com/36/161945043_931a9d613f_o.jpg

― Gukbe, Friday, 16 March 2007 14:01 (eighteen years ago)

We have a shiny new building in Minneapolis.
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/8/82/325px-Minneapolis_Public_Library_interior.jpg

But check out the hours:
Tuesday - 10:00 to 8:00
Wednesday - 10:00 to 6:00
Thursday - 10:00 to 8:00
Friday - 10:00 to 6:00
Saturday - 10:00 to 6:00

Humph.

― Fluffy Bear Hearts Rainbows, Friday, 16 March 2007 14:09 (eighteen years ago)

Ha! Those opening hours would be considered outlandishly generous in many UK public libraries :(

― Archel, Friday, 16 March 2007 14:22 (eighteen years ago)

when we were on the New River walk last Sunday, I was surprised to see that Enfield library was open -- the first time I've seen a library open on that day.

― Grandpont Genie, Friday, 16 March 2007 14:25 (eighteen years ago)

Yale's Beinecke rare books library is pretty amazing, and I think open to the public, as much as it's actually open to anyone...

http://www.henrytrotter.com/scholarship/images/yale/beinecke-outside.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/58/158502807_77023d1050_m.jpg

more pics here:
http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/brblinfo/brblslides_tour.html

― porcus dei, Friday, 16 March 2007 14:51 (eighteen years ago)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/423136028_533e594ebd_o.gif

― RJG, Friday, 16 March 2007 15:40 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.victoth.com/photos/547.jpg

While I did not enjoy my year at St. Mary's College, I was always amused by "Touchdown Jesus" on the outside of the ND library.

― Sara R-C, Friday, 16 March 2007 15:58 (eighteen years ago)

My favorite library in the whole world is Watzek Library at Lewis & Clark College (my indergrad) in Portland, Oregon.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lclark.edu/~aes/L%26Cphotos/library.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.lclark.edu/~aes/L%26Cphotos/L%26Cphotos.html&h=72&w=96&sz=7&hl=en&start=28&tbnid=Z5E2BqozDyL3hM:&tbnh=61&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWatzek%2BLibrary%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2004-33,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN

http://library.lclark.edu/images/mainimagerailing.jpg

It's huge! It had all sorts of different nooks and crannies to study in. Comfy chairs and couches and windows everywhere.

http://www.lclark.edu/MAIN/epostcards/card15.jpg

The greatest thing, though? Open 24 Hours a day Sunday Morning - Friday night. (A great thing for my all-nighter pulling self) AND they check out blankets and pillows at the circ desk. (never did that, kinda creepy, but I did bring in a sleeping bag for the last few weeks of writing my thesis).

I've donated to Watzek ever since I graduated. I'm seriously nostalgic over that place.

― Caledonia, Friday, 16 March 2007 18:36 (eighteen years ago)

that st mary's library is cool-looking!

― get bent, Friday, 16 March 2007 19:43 (eighteen years ago)

the diagonal slash across the quad grass is such a great complement

― get bent, Friday, 16 March 2007 19:46 (eighteen years ago)

I never noticed that! It's actually the library at Notre Dame (St. Mary's "big brother" school); the moniker "Touchdown Jesus" comes from the fact that you used to be able to see that image from the football stadium end zone. I think they've changed the stadium to seat more people now, so it might not be the view from the football field anymore.

― Sara R-C, Friday, 16 March 2007 20:29 (eighteen years ago)

why isn't there a will ferrell movie called "touchdown jesus" yet?

― get bent, Saturday, 17 March 2007 00:11 (eighteen years ago)

RJG's entry is choice.

The Seattle library is quite remarkable, so I'll have to choose that in terms of what I've been impressed by most over the years. But my real favorite is utterly nostalgic -- the Coronado Public Library. Not a per se remarkable building and the one photo on the website isn't much:

http://www.coronado.ca.us/gif_images/library1.gif

But it remains beautiful in the mind's eye, a mixture of stacks with odd and interesting books to my young mind, a great kid's section, long walks down halls with paneled windows next to plants and areas where the sun could shine through.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 17 March 2007 00:17 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elshaneo/170313380/

the melbourne one is pretty good. At night the only lights are are the green desk lamps

http://airminded.org/wp-content/img/scenery/slv-la-trobe-reading-room.jpg

― pablo thedooda, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:33 (eighteen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/State_Library_of_Victoria_La_Trobe_Reading_room_5th_floor_view.jpg/250px-State_Library_of_Victoria_La_Trobe_Reading_room_5th_floor_view.jpg

― pablo thedooda, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:37 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/

― J, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:54 (eighteen years ago)

ooh, that last shot is a beaut

― get bent, Saturday, 17 March 2007 05:02 (eighteen years ago)

xpost

― get bent, Saturday, 17 March 2007 05:02 (eighteen years ago)

why isn't there a will ferrell movie called "touchdown jesus" yet?

You haven't written it yet.

― Sara R-C, Saturday, 17 March 2007 06:24 (eighteen years ago)

can i just take any will ferrell script and paste in some mentions of football and jesus?

― get bent, Saturday, 17 March 2007 06:44 (eighteen years ago)

and get mr. mormon dynamite to direct

― get bent, Saturday, 17 March 2007 06:44 (eighteen years ago)

we can't have a libraries thread without the ucsd/close encounters library:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f5/Geisel_library.jpg/325px-Geisel_library.jpg

― jergincito, Saturday, 17 March 2007 15:40 (eighteen years ago)

The Dr. Seuss library you mean! (It's great to look at from the outside but inside didn't strike me as too remarkable.)

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 17 March 2007 15:40 (eighteen years ago)

that too! i've never been in it but i love the pictures

― jergincito, Saturday, 17 March 2007 15:42 (eighteen years ago)

Butler Library, Columbia

http://static.flickr.com/45/140362276_72d419afc1.jpg

― Virginia Plain, Sunday, 18 March 2007 19:59 (eighteen years ago)

NYPL

http://static.flickr.com/11/12241420_17da55310b.jpg

― Virginia Plain, Sunday, 18 March 2007 20:04 (eighteen years ago)

Vassar College Library all the way!

― Surmounter, Sunday, 18 March 2007 22:06 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ca/losangeles/postcards/hunlib.jpg

I did research on sixteenth century medical texts in the collection at the Huntington Library and it was totally delightful. There is a little cafe reserved for visiting scholars called The Footnote and when you're taking a break from going blind trying to read texts printed in black letter you can stroll through the rose gardens and japanese gardens on the estate.

That said, it is pretty hard to beat the Radcliffe Camera at Oxford for sheer gothic drama.

― Drew Daniel, Sunday, 18 March 2007 22:50 (eighteen years ago)

I also have to say that I totally cannot wait to study/work in this place once I have moved to Baltimore:

http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek05/tw0121/0121aiava_8peabodylib_b.jpg

― Drew Daniel, Sunday, 18 March 2007 22:55 (eighteen years ago)

oh wow, is that at John Hopkins?

― pablo thedooda, Monday, 19 March 2007 00:13 (eighteen years ago)

Drew you must do a show there. Somehow.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 19 March 2007 00:14 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, it's the Peabody Library. I know they have occasionally had big catered fundraiser events there.

― Drew Daniel, Monday, 19 March 2007 00:45 (eighteen years ago)

the huntington is pretty darned cool, regardless of my thoughts on mr. huntington himself.

― get bent, Monday, 19 March 2007 01:15 (eighteen years ago)

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