The new Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library holds almost iconic status in this city, and it’s worth checking out on that basis alone. The building stands, like some kind of Roman amphi¬theater, at 350 West Georgia Street (Downtown, 604-331-3600).
Before 1995, the Central Branch was housed in what is now the Virgin Megastore at 788 Burrard Street. (This 1957 Modernist structure is highly acclaimed in design circles for what was, in the ‘50s, an unusu¬ally expansive glass façade, which made it inviting to passersby. When Virgin Records bought the building in the 1990s, it covered these windows with advertising, infuriating the design purists.)
By the mid-1980s, the city had outgrown the Burrard Street library, and city council held a competition to design its replacement. In a process that ended up involving the public in a kind of collective straw vote, Boston architect Moshe Safdie won out. The result was a $100-million building that, when it opened in 1995, was widely referred to as the Coliseum. The architectural community, and like-minded observers, made it clear they thought the design entirely unsuitable to the West Coast of Canada and a slap in the face to an honorable Vancouver tradition of Modernist buildings, reflected in the older library.
But the public had spoken, and over time the grumbling has died down. In fact, the library is hugely popular, if not architecturally, then for the many and excellent services it provides. It’s also some¬thing of a social center for the city’s large community of foreign students studying English. They shrewdly make the most of it.
No question, this library’s light-flooded atrium, lined with eateries and shops and always busy, is impressive. The library itself is spacious, warm in ambiance, comfortable, and bright. As proof of its popular-ity, the VPL signs out eight million items — including CD5 and videos
— annually to 395,000 cardholders. The library is also remarkably well wired (given perennial complaints about lack of money), and provides up-to-date electronic resources and Internet access to library users.
On the top floor is the Special Collections division, with materials pertaining to the history of the city and province. In the basement is the Children’s Library, which offers storytelling and other programs. Children’s programs are also offered at most of the city’s twenty branch libraries.
The one exception is the old-fashioned Carnegie Reading Room (401 Main Street, Downtown, 604-665-3010) — a small oasis in the otherwise heavily used and occasionally raucous Carnegie community center at Main and Hastings streets. In this century-old reading room, men and women who live in the cheap rooming houses and hotels of the Downtown Eastside and Chinatown have a rare place where they can sit and read, with others, in relative comfort and peace. The shelves hold io,ooo paperbacks, including lots of Westerns, mysteries and crime novels, Chinese-language books, and literacy materials.
One of the few complaints about the entire library system is the hours it keeps. The Central Branch closes Sundays in winter and for one week in August (although a new left-leaning city council has vowed to end that practice). Branch libraries close the day after a statutory holiday, as well as the holiday itself. The bottom line is that labor costs are incredibly high (and terms generous), and the city won’t cough up more in operating costs for what is already a very big-ticket item.
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