Polishing the Library to a Big City Shine
Atlanta’s Libraries are under utilized resources. Libraries remain vital in keeping information and knowledge accessible to everyone but they provide another vital service, they can serve as a rallying and gathering point.
The Los Angeles Public Libraries’ Central branch is a gem. Its collections are substantial, its architecture a great blend of old and new, and the city uses the space to advance civic culture. The L.A.P.L. has three art galleries, a restaurant, several substantial meeting rooms and a theater! They even help finance their operations with a thriving gift shop. The New York, Chicago, and Boston public libraries engage in similar developement.
It’s time that the Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library straightened itself out and became the cultural landmark it needs to be.
First lets recognize what it already has going for it. Did you know that The Atlanta Public Library is the one building in Atlanta designed by a Bauhaus Architect? Marcel Breuer took his design for the Whitney Museum in New York and reworked it for APL. This leads to the second point… The building already has one art gallery and could easily be converted to include another. Right now the gallery often focuses on student shows, but the library could easily work with the High Museum to return the folk art and photography galleries downtown.
Additionally, the library should hire the Bold American Food Company to restart the restaurant. At one time Delectables was the best value in downtown food and it was right in the middle of the library.
Lastly, the library needs to be the meeting place for the literary minded in Atlanta. “Between the Lines”, WABE’s author interview program, should tape episodes before a live audience there each week. The Authors could then donate signed copies of their books to raise money and become part of the librariy’s collection.
What it will take is some vision and cooperation, something sorely lacking in the library in recent years. It will also take an effort to spruce up and clean the place.
Most importantly, however, the staff needs to re-magine what libraries do and librarians should do to make the place come to life. As long as the staff is fighting and not focusing on treating its visitors as honored guests, it will be hard to move forward.
March 1st, 2006 at 3:54 pm
How could there be no comments to this post? I think everything you said is a wonderful idea. As a librarian in Atlanta, it’s difficult to watch the energy within AFPL focused on issues not at all related to public service.
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:36 pm
Not a fan of the Central library building, but the re-organization they went through from 2003-2005 has paid off big time. Especially the Atlanta historical archives move to take over the entire fifth floor (with geneology) has been very successful — an outstanding resource. I just think, the soul-crushing nature of the building will always be a problem.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
The Marcel Breuer designed Central Branch is an extraordinary piece of architecture which is easily to be considered one of the finest public (or private) structures that has ever graced the skyline of Atlanta. However, because the rather monotheistic cultural paradigm that is pervasive here, exclusive of the recognition that we rightfully bestow upon the fabulously historic civil rights events that occurred here, it is easily understood why such a gem of a site is treated like a troublesome, non-entity. Since because, in any other major city (throughout the world) this sublime creation would be considered an absolute treasure, just think of Breuer’s Whitney in NYC. Thus whereas the above commenter “trainiac” laments that the building is of a “soul-crushing” nature…I would instead affirm that it is the collective individual, like “trianiac”, which are soul-crushing. Yes, it is the weed infested psyche of the ingracious yet sophomoric few, who with their loud-mouthed propaganda, have littered the civic scene with a message of bigger, better, faster. Which ultimately results in…dumb, dumber and dumbest. But I for one, am not buying it. No, instead, I say we should preserve (and improve) the Marcel Breuer designed Central Branch library. For it is the only wise and prudent thing to do.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:50 am
That I am a human being, I think, qualifies me to know for myself how something makes me feel. To me, the library is a depressing sight that does little more than exacerbate people’s worst stereotypes about cities — gray, drab, concrete. The streets on the sides and rear of the building more resemble dark, dirty, dangerous alleyways than they resemble vibrant downtown streets. And that, of course, leads me to raise the question — why are there sides and a rear to the building? Did Breuer think people would only think about and care about the front? It’s on a city block, and yet it bears no relation whatsoever to the surrounding urban context.
So, yeah. To me, it feels depressing to be within sight of that building. If, however, a giant concrete block makes you feel exuberant, more power to you. I can’t disagree with the way you feel.