Very good article in last weekend’s Financial Times by Edwin Heathcote (architecture correspondent) about Birmingham’s new £188 million public library.
You’ll need to subscribe to read, but the best bits include a quote from Brian Gambles, whom I met earlier this year, that: “We need to make this a landing strip for people who may not be culturally attuned to using a public building”. However, my favourite line was from Heathcote himself, who says that: “Libraries are seen as remnants of a real public realm: they are places that belong to citizens.”
Maybe I’m just lucky, because my local libraries have just been refurbished and upgraded.
The reason I’ve sent this link to you is not to let you know that they’ve been upgraded, but the mayor’s comments about why they’ve been upgraded: “Libraries are still the centrepieces of our local communities. It is heartening and important to see such important improvements take place and I am sure they will be very popular with the people of Barnet.”.
Long time no hear! 😉