the new Greenboro District Library

The future of the public library - like a bookstore where the books are free?

Ottawa’s newest library is no quiet scholarly retreat, and that’s just fine with the people who worked over the last decade to see it built. It is a busy, sometimes noisy place that resembles a big bookstore store in the way that it tries to connect readers to books.

Ottawa’s new south-end library, renamed the Greenboro District Library as it officially opened, adopts the retail strategy of Chapters and video-rental stores, in a bid to get more items in readers’ hands.

Walk in to the place, on Lorry Greenberg Drive, off Hunt Club Road, and there’s little sense that you’re faced with a big hunt for books.

In typical libraries, books are arranged in stacks that you search through. At Greenboro, there are stacks. But the first thing you see is between 2,000 and 3,000 books facing out on display shelves, something branch manager Dave Thomas describes as a “power wall” approach to library organization that encourages reader browsing.

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Before the final design was set the city’s officials and architects got public views from design workshops. As well, the library’s management looked at libraries in other communities to find innovative features.
The library is built beside, and connects to, the Greenboro Community Centre. The building features a large atrium with a coffee shop and a used bookstore. At the entrance of the library is a bank of self checkout machines.

The building, designed by architects at Shoalts and Zaback in Kingston, and Alcaide Webster in Ottawa, is environment friendly. There are waterless urinals and lights that go off when you leave some rooms. The furniture doesn’t use the chemical preservatives that bother many environmentally sensitive people.

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The library is built to be more user friendly than the traditional library, with what Mr. Thomas calls “a more welcoming atmosphere” that signals that it’s OK — even encouraged — to socialize. The space is mostly open, with one room for quiet study. “It’s never going to be a really quiet library,” says Mr. Thomas.

Ottawa Citizen - Ottawa library breaks from convention - June 30, 2006

UPDATE 2006-07-03: An editorial today about the need for a new central library in Ottawa.

The library board has recommended that the city include funding for a new central library in its long-range planning. Ottawa could have a new central branch within the next decade -- perhaps within the next few years, if a good public-private deal materializes. It's unlikely anyone will finalize a deal until after the municipal election in November, but there is reason to hope for one soon after that.

When Ottawa does get its new central library, it should be beautiful from the outside as well as the inside. There would be little point in replacing an ugly building with a mediocre building. It should be a tourist attraction, stately and gracious and timeless.

The [external] architecture of the Greenboro branch isn't going to take anybody's breath away, and that's fine. It will serve its community well. But the main branch, the flagship of the Ottawa Public Library, should be breathtaking. It should be a landmark.

Ottawa Citizen - Library needs political will - July 03, 2006