Library Buildings around the World

National City Public Library, National City, CA – USA 2005
National City's two-story library is located in Kimball Park, a 30-acre green space in the heart of the city. The architectural
composition of the library is two stone veneer masses that respect the street grid and are intersected by an elliptical-shaped main
reading room. Clad in glass, this element is protected on its south and west edges by the masonry elements and opens onto the park,
illuminated with northern light. (Carrier)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San José, CA – USA 2003
see: ABA Anderson Brulé Architects
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library is a joint-use facility for the City of San Jose and San Jose State University, pooling the
resources and staff of both library systems. Located on a prominent corner site between the campus and city, the library's main
entry lobby physically connects the two user groups at the street. The articulated form of the building comes from this diagonal
"street" merging with the city's orthogonal grid. (Carrier)
Cartaya & Associates Architects, Fort Lauderdale, FL – USA
http://www.cartayaandassociates.com
Libraries:
Miramar Branch Library, Broward College & Nova Southeastern University Educational Center,
Miramar, FL – USA 2008
$ 15.000.000
The New 72,000 square foot Miramar Branch Library, Broward College & Nova Southeastern University Educational Center is
located at a site in the heart of the City of Miramar. It is designed to be the northern gateway to the new Miramar Town Center and
complement the civic and governmental components of the complex. The building includes a 32,000 square foot Broward County
Branch Library, a 20,000 square foot Broward College Miramar Classroom Center and 20,000 square feet of classrooms for Nova
Southeastern University. The County Library included over one hundred thousand books, cd's and dvd's, as well as a Community
Hall and Electronic Laboratory. (Cartaya)
Weston Branch Library & Broward College Combination Building, Weston, FL – USA 2006
$ 7.500.000
Completed in 2006, this new two story, fifty thousand square foot, building includes a thirty thousand square foot Broward County
Branch Library and a twenty thousand square foot Broward College classroom facility. The County Library includes seventy
computers and over one hundred thousand books, CD's and DVD's, as well as a Community Hall and an Electronic Laboratory. The
Broward College Facility includes ten classrooms, a bookstore, and student academic service offices. (Cartaya)
Tamarac Branc Library, Tamarac, FL – USA 2004
$ 5.000.000
This new 30,000 S.F. Community Library, located in Tamarac, Florida, was completed in 2004. The design allows for the entry of
natural light through walls of glass with sun-shading devices. This County Library includes over one hundred thousand books, CD's
and DVD's, as well as a Community Hall and Electronic Laboratory. An open interior design was created for ease of monitoring the
interior public spaces. The overall ambience of the Library is friendly, open, and accessible within a human scale. (Cartaya)
CBT Architects – Childs Bertman Tseckares, Boston, MA – USA
http://www.cbtarchitects.com
Libraries:
The Learning Center for the Deaf — Early Childhood Education Center and Campus Library,
Framingham, MA – USA 2010
20,000 sqf.
Classrooms, meeting room, library
CBT’s design for the Early Childhood Education Center and Campus Library at The Learning Center for the Deaf will feature a
multipurpose meeting room, flexible classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology, spaces for health and physical therapy
services, and a spacious new library. The abundant use of glass within the interior spaces helps encourage visual and social
connectivity between students and staff, while learning spaces are acoustically engineered to block out sound for students learning to
hear with cochlear implants. Flexible classrooms utilize full-height demountable walls as divisions between the classrooms, allowing
for rooms to be adjusted depending on the size of the class. The building’s exterior aesthetics takes cues from the existing New
England vernacular buildings, while the interior is contemporary and playful. A playground on the upper level is directly accessible
from classrooms and an outdoor terrace on the lower level knits the building into the campus’ fabric. The project is slated for LEED
Gold certification and features high performance attributes. The building strategically takes advantage of unobstructed southern
daylight through its east-west orientation. Clerestories draw light deep into the classrooms while minimizing glare. A rooftop
photovoltaic array will absorb daylight and help moderate the building’s temperature and will provide 1/3 of the building’s annual
energy. The design will also implement a geoexchange system to help heat and cool the building efficiently. Water-efficient plumbing
fixtures and non-toxic finishes will also be implemented. (CBT)
Middlebury College — Starr-Axinn Center, Middlebury, VT – 2008
82,400 SF
Awards:
2009 Sustainable Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects (BSA)
2009 Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) Excellence in Architecture Award.
Classrooms, social spaces, faculty offices, winter garden
The design for Middlebury College’s Axinn Center at Starr Library reinvents a beloved campus landmark, meets the need for
additional classrooms and faculty offices, brings disparate departments together for increased interdisciplinary collaboration, and
redefines the Center of an expanding campus. Located on the historic Old Stone Row quad, the project preserved the original 1927
neoclassical Starr Library, the 1957 Shepley Pavilion Reading Room, and added 50,000 SF of new space. Previous additions, which
engulfed the original library, were deconstructed and reclaimed elements of the additions were used in the construction of the new
project. The program called for the historic reading rooms in the library to be restored and other existing spaces to be adapted as
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