An arch of louvers continues from the entrance to the staircase bookshelves... First, a scaffold was erected and the bookshelves were installed in the atrium. Next, the scaffolding was removed and the steel frames were installed to form the bottoms of the stairs. After that, the scaffolding was set in place again and the arch was installed above the atrium. Finally, the thin stair treads were placed on the steel frames.
The Waseda International House of Literature
A special project that carries the traditional Vietnamese horticulture, aquaculture & animal husbandry, from rural to urban areas... The VAC Library is also geared towards an open library space for children. Children in the area and elsewhere can come here to play together, read books, and learn about this ecological model visually at the building.
Farming Architects
This isn't what you'd usually expect to find in a shed... pic.twitter.com/6wKBYlHMGu— BBC Cumbria (@BBC_Cumbria) June 3, 2019
A fascinating travelling library once owned by Maurice Baring, an Old Etonian who was a leading man of letters in the first half of the 20th century...
In early January 2019, Bonhams Knightsbridge will host a special public exhibition: Voyages: a journey in Books from Eton College Library. The loan exhibition, which is supported by Martin Randall Travel, leading experts in cultural tours, runs from Monday 7 – Friday 18 January, Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 5pm; Sunday 13th, 11am to 3pm. Bonhams, Montpelier Street, London SW7 1HH. FREE ENTRY.
Bonhams via Fine Books Magazine
Kit Kemp explains how shelves of carefully chosen books can transform a room.
More at Country Life
A good book can be a companion when you’re lonely, a blanket when you’re cold, food when you’re hungry, and a weapon when you feel defenceless.
WheelyGoodBooks is a grassroots non-profit community initiative with a passionate focus upon solidarity, not charity. Our service will begin as a mobile library run from wheely suitcases filled where possible with books that have been requested by our members.
We really welcome involvement on any level from anybody from any background. To ensure our service meets the needs of those who use it, we especially value involvement from people with past or present experience of homelessness or unstable accommodation.
JOIN US.
Our ideas for the future:
Information and advice for rough sleepers
Signposting to additional services within the Bristol area including legal support, benefits and housing
Distributing homelessness survival guides and handbooks
Campaigning for access to traditional library services
Campaigning against library closures
Campaigning for homelessness rights and Homes for the Homeless
Advice regarding tenants rights, squatting and alternative housing solutions
WheelyGoodBooks
The library, one part of a larger cultural complex masterplan, bases itself around a spherical auditorium which, coupled with the main atrium, forms an eye that acts as a focal point for the interior space. Terraced bookshelves echo the sphere throughout the atrium, leading users up into the heart of the library, before continuing around the building as louvers.
MVRDV
Architect Sam Jacob pays homage to the British library within the Urban Cabin by installing its very own microlibrary. A response to a decline in the usage of UK libraries, Jacob explains, “London is a city of books before it is a city of architecture. We created this library as an extension to domestic space that contains a certain spirit of the city. Recalling the grand libraries as well as the book-lined studies of domestic life.” The micro-library is filled with a diverse selection of books that describe ways of living in London. A quiet space to enjoy reading, share stories or book recommendations, it creates a perfect contrast to the lively atmosphere of the kitchen.
For the next six weeks, any member of the public in New York can head to subwaylibrary.com or download the New York Public Library's reader app, SimplyE, to have unlimited access to a wide selection of NYPL-provided e-books. The initiative also aims to promote the free Wi-Fi service at each of the subway's underground stations, which rolled out late last year. When users log onto the service, a link to the Subway Library website will appear, encouraging you to read a book instead of your Facebook feed.
Library Train is designed to look like the iconic Rose Reading Room with the seats and walls on each car made to resemble bookshelves (and a faux–Gilded Age ceiling to boot). The train is scheduled to run on the E and F lines between Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.
TimeOut and New York Public Library
The curators conceived a 1:1 site-specific inhabitable spatial wooden structure, an abstract compact home performing as a curated library that operates as a platform for exploring the concepts of home and dwelling.
Home at Arsenale
The intention was to have a sense of 'discovery' when entering in this room, to find the books we have to walk along the space. We deliberately wanted to conceal the books in order to avoid the normal bookshelf image of libraries. The contrast between the black on one side and the white on the other, emphasizes the notion of being or not being. Two words are placed on the white surfaces of the shelves, "library" and "investigate", and encyclopedia definitions, such as "to question", "to know", etc in Portuguese and English.
Photos: João Morgado
P-06 Atelier
The first public library in a Jewish cemetery. Designed as a memorial by Michael Clegg and Martin Guttman - the Jewish cemetery was virtually destroyed under the Third Reich - the artists created these bookcases in Krems in the size and shape of a grave stone with glass doors. It contains a carefully selected collection of books in German, English and Hebrew focusing on Jewish philosophy and the history of death.
Institut für historische Intervention
Love this garden library at #RHSTatton by @KTBrown_ @The_RHS @tatton_park pic.twitter.com/l6CNIgD2Nh— julie miles (@julie_miles) July 20, 2016
Ridwan Sururi and Luna, one of his horses who help to run Kudapustaka, a small mobile library in Serang.
On Instagram
You can read more about animal libraries and other unusual libraries in Improbable Libraries.
A new documentary which explores the heritage and significance of the British Public Library, also questioning why such a historically important British institution is in dramatic decline in today's contemporary society. The film features intimate and personal stories from great British figures, including names such as Stephen Fry, Irvine Welsh, Bonnie Wright, Amma Asante and Daisy Goodwin. Titled Safe House: A Decline of Ideas, the project will also discuss possibilities of how public libraries could be salvaged for future generations.
"Given its location, it isn’t astounding what periodic international uproar the Guantánamo Detainee Library has generated. Created early in the century, there was great concern and speculation about what measures the U.S. Department of Defense might take to deprive their detainees of intellectual and linguistic stimulation. It isn’t the only library in the detention center—there is also one for military personnel—but it is surely the most controversial. According to reports, there are books in eighteen different languages in the bookshelves."
Ilan Stavans and Muira McCammon
Read the whole article at Kenyon Review
