When I came across the quote “Every library is autobiographical” in the Manguel piece, something brought me back to our visit to the Brooklyn Public Library. In particular, the mention of “Lindsay Boxes” – the unremarkable, conventional giant box libraries that were built in the late 60’s. How could librarians craft an “autobiographical experience” in these cheap, bland spaces? Our visit saw us experience a vibrant and bustling community space, only to then become privy to the vast underpinning (literally and figuratively) below that facilitated the use of the building beyond just a public hall.
Manguel later compares the experience of librarian and viewer to that of a poet and a reader. The following pieces on the atypical categorization structures of the Warberg and Prelinger libraries offer a possible “solution” to the drab environment offered by Lindsay Box-like structures. I also wonder about non-traditional library structure with regards to novels and other fiction writing, and what messages could be encoded in their arrangement. Perhaps BookOps can see create custom curated arrangements in branch libraries (if only they had the massive amount of time and resources that would take).
Thanks, Tim! I’m glad you recognize that nondescript architectures and standardized fittings needn’t translate into joyless collections. How might the rigid convention of BookOps, behind the scenes, allow for more improvisation in the public-facing areas of the library system? You might be interested in this design competition from 2014-15, where several teams “re-imagined” the branch library, considering how we might enliven and update those Lindsay boxes and old Carnegies. Some libraries have also employed pop-ups or partnerships with outside organizations to allow for local customization.