The hottest ticket in Canada: A noisy library with much more than books
| Calgary, Alberta
It鈥檚 the week of the Calgary Stampede, one of the best-known rodeos on the North American circuit, drawing over 1.27 million visitors this year.
But first, Robert Sulea has something more pressing to show his mom, who is visiting from southern Michigan: the library. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing, it鈥檚 absolutely beautiful,鈥� he gushes as the pair look up to the oculus skylight, which bathes the building in summer sunlight.
Young and sharp-looking, Mr. Sulea, who works in the oil and gas industry, doesn鈥檛 look particularly bookish. But then again, Calgary鈥檚 new Central Library is not really about the books. It鈥檚 the new place in Canada right now, an architectural gem so unique that a light rail train runs through its foundation. Built in a fashion that recalls a ship, it also stands as a show of resistance for an oil city that鈥檚 been dragged into a multiyear slump.
Why We Wrote This
Think of libraries, and you think of books. But what are they really there for: community, learning, exploration? Calgary is the latest city reimagining how to serve those needs, with a library that鈥檚 an architectural marvel, too.
鈥淲hen the library was begun the city was in a boom situation. But [amid recession] there was an insistence that it wasn鈥檛 going to be dumped,鈥� says Aritha van Herk, an author and writing professor at the University of Calgary. 鈥淣ow that鈥檚 Calgary. ... It鈥檚 the energy of this city and its determination to always move forward. It鈥檚 not a surprise that this library is shaped like the prow of a ship moving ahead.鈥�
Given harder times 鈥� often measured by the nearly 25% offices 鈥� the $245 million (Canadian; U.S. $185 million) project could appear incongruous.
But Sarah Meilleur, the library鈥檚 director of service delivery, insists that the decline makes the new addition more relevant than ever. 鈥淧ublic libraries can be seen as a refuge when people aren鈥檛 going to work anymore,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey can use the computer, they can use many of the digital resources that we have, as well as gain new skills.鈥澨�
Well before 9 a.m., when library doors open, a crowd has already formed. Ms. Meilleur takes visitors on a tour, pointing out the highlights of the building 鈥� starting with the exterior archway, built to echo the Chinook arch, cloud formations unique to Calgary as warm winds come over the mountains from the west in wintertime. In the lobby is the 鈥渂ook-scalator,鈥� the 21st-century mode of book-returning that鈥檚 a hit among kids.
We walk past meeting spaces, where anyone with a library card can book a room 鈥� a member of the Persian book club or the board of the Ultimate Frisbee league. There are recording studios for budding podcasters. There are lockers to check out and store laptops and language and orientation services for new immigrants.
We are quickly ushered through the teen area, to not pollute the space with adult presence. 鈥淥n a Friday night there can be upwards of 100 teens spending time in the library, which is pretty incredible, to think that the library has become a destination for teenagers,鈥� says Ms. Meilleur. 鈥淲e鈥檙e cool.鈥澨�
Libraries are apparently cool among millennials too. A 2017 showed that 53% of the youngest adults in the U.S. say they used a library or bookmobile in the past 12 months, the highest percentage among age segments.
Calgary鈥檚 new public library is intended to get quieter as one ascends. In fact it鈥檚 only on the top floor, in the wood-paneled 鈥淭D Great Reading Room,鈥� that the space begins to resemble the kind of spot more typically associated with a library.
This fact irks some locals. 鈥淚 like the building. I don鈥檛 think it has enough books in it,鈥� gripes Darryl Green, a retired plumber who visits thrice weekly. 鈥淚 find it noisy. Libraries, we didn鈥檛 talk in them, and they were all real quiet. But that鈥檚 not what happens now. Now we have forgone that just to get people in the doors. So you have people doing drumming downstairs and stuff like that. It鈥檚 not really what a library is.鈥�
On this point, Calgary is certainly not alone. Libraries across the globe, from Finland to Qatar, are becoming tourist attractions in their own right. Calgary鈥檚 new library propelled the city to The New York Times鈥� annual 鈥�52 Places to Go鈥� list for 2019. And Time magazine included it in its 鈥淲orld鈥檚 100 Greatest Places of 2019鈥� edition. During听its opening days last November, more than 52,000 visited, and since then the number has grown to 1.2 million (although that鈥檚 still just a bit less than the number during 10 days of the Calgary Stampede this July).听
It鈥檚 also become a de facto service center, open to the homeless or those addicted to drugs. 鈥淭hat role has been forced on them because other social services are dwindling,鈥� says Professor Van Herk, a bibliophile who makes a point of visiting a library in every new place she goes and who has lost count of her tally. 鈥淏ut they have picked up that task with so much generosity.鈥�
Its very presence, connecting the once-ailing East Village to downtown with an archway, is a statement, where city hall famously 鈥渢urned its back鈥� on the neighborhood with a solid wall.听
Two homeless friends, who don鈥檛 wish to share their names, are reading magazines on a recent afternoon. They come daily. They were regulars at the old library too, but here they sit at the 鈥減row,鈥� in a living-room setting looking out on their city. It can get stuffy, says one. They agree with Mr. Green that it can be loud. But when asked to use one word to describe what this place means, one replies 鈥渙penness.鈥� The other says 鈥渨elcome.鈥�
