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A brand new nine-story library with a three-story atrium, domed reading room and terrace (8th floor), dozens of computer terminals, an art gallery, an auditorium, a special-collections wing, and a charter school!
The minute I entered the new Central Public Library in Downtown San Diego, I was struck by its vastness - you have to take an escalator to get up to the second and third floors! After that, it's elevators (or the stairs, which we were relegated to because the elevators weren't working too well).
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| Three-story atrium with elevators greet you as you enter the library. |
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| Not a bad view of the Coronado Bridge from the 8th floor Reading Room! |
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| The 8th floor Reading Room, full of long tables and a pop of color from the BLUE chairs. [source for this photo here] |
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| The ceiling and glass windows of the Reading Room |
The area adjacent to the Reading Room houses Central Library's collection of baseball books. The collection is said to be second only to the baseball Hall of Fame's in Cooperstown, N.Y.
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| Life-size sculpture in the Baseball Book Collections area. |
I ended my visit to the library with the Children's Library, which was back down on the first floor.
There were lots of fun Dr. Seuss murals in bright primary colors on the walls. The low bookshelves, from a child's perspective, make the room more inviting than how I initially felt upon entering the very modern, basement-like area...
Honestly, it was kind of anti-climactic, with a very municipal feeling, despite the fun glass cases that met us, holding some of the library's special children's collections....
Mother Goose Vintage Collection
First Edition OZ books
(I was surprised to see Ruby Slippers on the volumes.
Maybe the kids who haven't read the books
wouldn't have recognized Dorothy's Silver Shoes?)
Maurice Sendak Private Collection
Why are these cute green child-sized reading chairs empty?
Because all the kids are at the computers. Sigh. Well, hopefully they checked out some books to bring home!
But wait! One little child liked the child-sized chairs. My grandson, aka "Le Petit Prince"!
Absolutely gorgeous!! That's funny about Dorothy's shoes. I, myself, always steer my children away from the computers. I strongly dislike all the games available on them. A library is for READING. I'm insanely jealous! San Diego was already my favorite city in the world! Now THIS? Ah!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's an amazing use of space, and worth a look if you ever find yourself in downtown San Diego. I always like to stop by for a peek into libraries when I'm on vacation. My favorite (so far) has been the Boston Public Library. It's gorgeous.
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