This soaring library in design-mad Denmark includes space for arts and robotics programs for kids.
2Dokk1 Public Library, Aarhus, Denmark
This soaring library in design-mad Denmark includes space for arts and robotics programs for kids.
3Calgary Central Library, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Check the light-filled, reader-friendly public seating areas of the pride and joy of Calgary.
4Calgary Central Library, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Check the light-filled, reader-friendly public seating areas of the pride and joy of Calgary.
5Boston Public Central Library, Boston, Massachusetts
Putting Oregon Public Broadcasting on blast: The library in Boston includes an in-house media broadcasting studio from WGBH, the local NPR affiliate.
6Boston Public Central Library, Boston, Massachusetts
Putting Oregon Public Broadcasting on blast: The library in Boston includes an in-house media broadcasting studio from WGBH, the local NPR affiliate.
7Austin Central Library, Austin, Texas
Comfy leather armchairs, space-age design and even an in-house eatery deep in the heart of Texas.
8Austin Central Library, Austin, Texas
Comfy leather armchairs, space-age design and even an in-house eatery deep in the heart of Texas.
9Oregon City Library, Clackamas County
More modest from the outside, but with room on the inside for a host of kid-friendly programming, including baby sign language, Dungeons and Dragons meet-ups and a LEGO lab.
10Oregon City Library, Clackamas County
More modest from the outside, but with room on the inside for a host of kid-friendly programming, including baby sign language, Dungeons and Dragons meet-ups and a LEGO lab.
Higher-ups at the Multnomah County Library system have been talking since 2017 about building a new flagship library out in east county, where the population is growing fast and the demand is high for library services, from storytimes to resume help and beyond.
This November, county voters are likely to be asked to approve more than $400 million for library construction and upgrades, including a brand new, 95,000-square-foot mecca for book lovers in Gresham, envisioned as sprawling and comprehensive as the historic downtown branch.
Library spokesman Shawn Cunningham says the new library would mean more space for many of the library’s most popular programs (woe to those stroller-pushing moms who arrive only 5 minutes before Book Babies only to find it is at capacity — better luck next time, ladies). “Our buildings are designed to house books and not really people,” he writes. “Every one of our locations, plus office and warehouse space, would fit inside Seattle’s downtown Central Library. Multnomah County is a busier system.”
For now, plans for the new branch are still conceptual, but library officials are dreaming big.
