Calgary Public Library Board Chair Jamie Niessen talks about the 21st Century Library.
Connect with us!
Like us on Facebook to join in the online conversation!
Media? Call us at 403-828-2954 or media.relations@calgary.ca.
Calgary Public Library Board Chair Jamie Niessen talks about the 21st Century Library.
Like us on Facebook to join in the online conversation!
Media? Call us at 403-828-2954 or media.relations@calgary.ca.
For me the 21st century library is not necessarily a hub for community. In fact it isn’t necessarily even a physical location. I visit libraries to access information and entertainment at a very low cost.
The 21st century library that makes it easier for me to do this stuff.
ie.
I can checkout any book I want from my ipad in my living room,
i can stream a movie that someone else can watch after i’m done (without waiting a week for me to return it because I’ve got too much on the go to take it back immediately)
loading...
Great comment and thanks – this will be added to our final report.
loading...
You bring up a good point as our furture seems to be more on using ipad’s and not so much the old fashioned way of actually going to the library but there are people like myself who are not so technical savvy and also like the old fashioned way of browsing through the books.. I am of baby boomer age and the older senior population of Calgary needs to be respected and not forgotten; not that you are leaing towards this at all.. but the world is lacking face to face old fashioned communication these days and I see it as only getting worse with all the things we can do from home without leaving it.. I am all for easy and accessible, especially for the busy and people with specil eneds that may not be abke to get out in the winter in their wheelchairs as well.. we need to keep in mind “everyone” and a positive .bright naturally lit if possible healthy and welcoming learning space..not too fancy that it’s cost to build is outrageous but something that will last everyday use and be ecologically safe for people with “scent sensitivities” too like carpet, certain paints, glues etc.
loading...
Thoughtful and insightful comments about the evolving nature of a “library”. My comment–and fervent hope–is that the physical form of the new central library physically embody these ideas. In other words, I truly hope that the architecture of the library will be informed by some of those very issues. This project needs a “world-class” architect, who is willing to ask “what is the library of the future?”, and design accordingly.
I think of the Bibliotheque Ste Genevieve in Paris, which made extraordinary use of a “new” building material (iron), to create an incredible “forward thinking” space.
I think of the Seattle Public Library, where Rem Koolhaas asked fundamental questions about the nature of “a library” in a “digital age”…but even in the decade or so since that project, the world has changed and the questions to be asked and answered in the architecture of a new central library are different yet again.
The new central library must help redefine the very notions of “library” and “public space”!
loading...
Haven’t thanked you yet for your comment but this will be added to our final report on public engagement. Much appreciated.
loading...
Thanks for sharing and I am soooo excited to see Calgary’s ongoing cultural transformation with the addition of an expanded library in the East Village.
Dianne
loading...