Library Buildings around the World

The Kinlaw Library / Kirkland Learning Resources Center is a new library and classroom facility located at the termination of a
long brick pedestrian path—the main “spine” of Asbury University—linking the library with the chapel, main quad, housing, arts
buildings and gymnasium. The three-story facility is built into a hill, with white columns respectfully complementing the existing
university fabric. The Learning Resources Center is located on a lower level and features a separate after-hours keycard access. This
classroom facility offers the University community several technology-driven classrooms with projection capability and audio visual
resources. Asbury’s Information Services Department is located on this level to provide support to the 870 computer ports located
throughout the building, as well as the administrative and academic computing needs of the entire campus. The main entrance to
Kinlaw Library’s collections area is located on the second level of the facility with stacks located in the center of the second and third
levels. The third floor includes a two-story conference/seminar room features a massive oval table with seating for 44, and sound and
media equipment well-suited to hosting large meetings. (Ratio)
Putnam County Public Library, Putnam County Library Board, Greencastle, IN – USA 1998
Sq. Ft.: 25,500, COSTS : $2,453,652
1998 Indiana Library Federation “Library of the Year”
The Putnam County Public Library project centered on the complete renovation and addition of this Carnegie library in
Greencastle, Indiana. Constructed in 1902, the original two-story building contained 6,470 sq. ft. of space. The 18,000 sq. ft. addition
provided expanded adult and children services, bookmobile garage, meeting room, enhanced technical services, staff support areas,
and handicap accessibility. The addition was a contextual solution, sensitive to the original building without duplicating it. The
original entrance was maintained and a second entrance was created adjacent to new on-site parking. The new brick and
limestone were selected to complement the original brick and limestone on the Carnegie Library. To add to the complexity
of materials selection, the original building utilized a roman brick with 1/8” wide joints, providing some unique challenges
in finding a brick tie that could be properly incorporated within the new wall system. (Ratio)
Lucille Stewart Beeson Law Library, Samford University, Birmingham, AL – USA 1995
Kevin Huse: Library Planning, Interiors & Furnishings Architecture / Interior DesignSq. Ft.: 60,300 COSTS: $6 million
The Lucille Stewart Beeson Law Library at Samford University is judiciously enriched with classical details and traditional
materials and is sited to form a threesided quadrangle with the Law School and Brooks Hall. The slope of the site allows the library
to expose a two-story face to the north, while turning its grander three-story facade to the new quadrangle. It is connected to the Law
School by a glassed-in colonnade that also serves as a weather vestibule to the new library. The new facility is a modern structure
that meets the functional needs of a working library within a building that bespeaks of the dignity, majesty and tradition of the law
itself. The interior organization is integrally related to its exterior massing with an open, airy central space flanked by denser, less
publicly used functions. The grand reading room is located within the building’s inner core and is lit brightly by a large light
monitor. From the third floor to the base of the light monitor, the walls lean slightly inward to exaggerate the sense of height. Ease of
maintenance was also a consideration. A catwalk at the level of the monitor provides easy access for window washing and re-lamping
of light fixtures. (Ratio)
William Rawn Associates Architects, Boston, MA – USA
http://www.rawnarch.com
Literature:
Architect Magazine, May 2009
East Boston Branch Library, Boston MA – USA 2013
SCHEDULE: Fall 2011 – Winter 2012: Design development, construction documents, and bidding, Spring 2012: Construction startup,
Spring 2012 – Fall 2013: Construction and moving, Fall 2013: Grand opening
By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent
Boston will push forward with plans for a dramatically modern new public library branch at the northeast tip of East Boston’s
Bremen Street Park, despite being waitlisted for state funding.
The decision by Mayor Thomas M. Menino was announced Wednesday night at a public meeting in East Boston. City officials said
that though the project was not among the eight municipal library improvement projects awarded grants by the Massachusetts
Board of Library Commissioners last Thursday, Menino was committed to seeing the project completed on schedule.
“The mayor said, ‘Under no condition are we going to stop on this project,’” said Joseph I. Mulligan III, deputy director of the city’s
Capital Construction Division. “He said, ‘We have to move forward on this.’ The mayor made a full commitment to moving forward
on the project without hesitation, and if there’s an issue on reimbursement, we will wait the state out.”
The state board awarded more than $27.4 million to the eight grant recipients, with the largest sum, $6.3 million, going to West
Springfield. Boston’s request for $7.3 million for the East Boston Branch is dead-last among the 15 on the wait list. Another six were
turned down by the state and will have to resubmit their proposals.
Christine Schonhart, director of branch libraries for the Boston Public Library, said the setback didn’t come as a surprise because
the board tends to prioritize funding to main libraries over branch libraries. She said the same thing had happened to the Mattapan
branch library several years ago, and it eventually received state funding.
If construction begins on schedule in the spring of 2012, the new branch could open as early as fall of 2013, according to Jim
McGaffigan, the city project manager who will oversee the work.
The plan for the new library is worlds away from both the staid, Classical Revival East Boston Branch on Meridian Street and the
squat, brick Orient Heights Branch. The design is light and airy, with a glass wall facing Bremen Street Park and the downtown
skyline and a roof made up of undulating strips that wouldn’t be out of place on a building designed by Frank Gehry.
Designed to bring the park into the indoor space, the plan features distinct areas for adults, young adults, and children over its
14,870 square feet, but the spaces are delineated by color selections, furniture styles, and roof alignments rather than walls.
The wavelike strands of the roof allow for spaces in between where windows bring more sunlight in, and the side facing south into
the park includes a 1,000-square-foot sheltered reading porch with low seating and space intended to be used as an “outdoor
classroom” for children.
The entrance is at the southwest corner, with doors leading toward the park and toward Bremen Street itself. The 2,297-square-foot
children’s area is positioned on the eastern edge of the space for safety, with clear sightlines across the space to allow librarians and
parents to keep an eye on the children. A multipurpose room adjacent to the children’s area will accommodate up to 80 seats for a
public meeting but can also be used for performances, children’s crafts, and other community purposes.
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