For our group's very first walkabout, we visited the Salk Lake Public Library. Having never been to the Library before, I didn't know what to expect. I suppose I thought we would visit a dingy old building whose dust covers every binding, but this is not the case. The Library doesn't only carry amazing words, it also carries amazing architectural ingenuity.
In 2003 this Library replaced the much older library (which still stands today, it is now a science museum) and has since won a number of awards for its amazing architecture, including the National Architect Award. The space is built on a large scale and most defiantly deserves recognition, yet it is neither so large nor so ornate as to distract from the books. If a person wanted to come in to study, they could do so without unwanted distraction.
Many of these people are students studying for school, but the population that comes into the library is much more diverse than that. The Public Library is truly public, for anyone can come in to enjoy a good read. People diverse in lineage were there, people of many different social castes...everyone had a representative there, even if the majority of people were middle class and white.
One aspect of the library that at first struck us as odd, though, were the shops that line the north end of the building. At first we thought these shops were unnecessary, detracting from the messages the library tries to send, but upon discussion we discovered this was not the case. The stores advocate many of the authors that are in the library, they draw people in, and they provide revenue that every public institution needs during our financial recession.
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