Salt Lake City Public Library
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| Salt Lake City Public Library | |
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| (U.S. National Register of Historic Places) | |
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| Location: | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Added to NRHP: | August 7, 1979 |
The Salt Lake City Public Library is a system of free public libraries in Salt Lake City, Utah. There are six locations: the main library downtown, the Anderson-Foothill branch, the Chapman branch in Glendale, the Day-Riverside branch in Rose Park, the Sprague branch in Sugar House, and the Corrine & Jack Sweet branch in the Avenues.
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[edit] History
The Salt Lake City public library system began in 1896 when Utah was admitted to the union as a state. The newly formed legislature passed a law establishing free libraries. Previous to this the only libraries were a small reading room set up by a group of women from 1872 to 1876 and a library run by the Masonic Order from 1877 to 1891. In 1891 the Masonic library was donated to the newly-formed Pioneer Library Association, which lasted until statehood.
The first government-run free public library was founded in 1898 on the top floor of the Salt Lake City and County Building It consisted of 11,910 books and was run by Annie E. Chapman, for whom the Chapman branch is named. In 1900 the library had outgrown its housing and was proposed to move to a new local on State Street, which opened in 1905 with a new librarian Joanna Sprague.
In November 1998 taxpayers were asked to fund the building of a new main library building downtown. Voters approved a $84 million bond. Several architects submitted plans, but the firm of Moshe Safdie and Associates was eventually chosen. Ground broke in October 2000 with construction completed in February 2003.
[edit] Main branch
The Salt Lake City Public Library's main branch building is an architecturally unique structure in Salt Lake City, Utah.
[edit] Location
The main library is located at 210 East 400 South across from the Salt Lake City and County Building and Washington Square.
[edit] Features
The Salt Lake City main library is a 240,000 ft² (22,300 m²) five-story tall, wedge-shaped building. The library has a collection of over 500,000 books as well as subscriptions to over 60 newspapers and magazines and 163 internet capable computers.
The structure includes 44,960 yd³ (34,370 m³) of concrete as well as 176,368 ft² (16,385 m²) of glass. One of its most striking features is the five-story curved glass wall.
Outside the library is Library Square, a landscaped and paved plaza. Originally, much of what is now landscaped open space was to be out buildings, but Mayor Rocky Anderson asked for these to be left out and create a public park. There are several shops on the square as well as the studios of radio station KCPW. Library Square is paved with limestone from Israel.
Upon entering the five story building, one enters the "Urban Room", which has the same limestone paving as the square. The room extends for all five floors and ends with a 20,000 ft² (1860 m²) skylight. More shops line one side of the Urban Room.
A rooftop garden completes the structure. It is planted with trees, grasses, flowering bulbs and various perennial plants.
The whole library depends on natural lighting, reducing the need of lights in the library. A huge five story glass wall is where most of the light comes from.
Other features of the library include:
- Spiraling fireplaces which occur on four of the floors and were designed to resemble a column of fire as viewed from 200 East and 400 South.
- A "lens" on the south side of the building which helps to warm the building during the winter, saving on heating costs.
- An art gallery displaying works of local artists.
- Coffee Shop with a "private staircase" which gives direct access to the Young Adult's Section.
- Children's library.
- Spiral "grand staircase" and three glass elevators.
- One of the largest, if not the largest, graphic novel collection in a public library. This is due in part to Night Flight Comics being located in Library Square and making numerous donations.
- The oldest and largest zine collection in a public library. Currently the collection has about 6,000 zines, 15 subscriptions, and a number of reference books
- The library has also won Library Journal's 2006 library of the year award.
[edit] 1994 Hostage Incident
- Main article: Salt Lake City Public Library hostage incident
On March 7, 1994, a gunman took several hostages in a conference room on the second floor of the old main branch building, now a cultural center. The library was evacuated and SWAT teams were called in during a six-hour siege, which ended in the death of the gunman and the freeing of the hostages.
[edit] 2006 explosion
On September 15, 2006, a small bomb exploded in the third floor of the main building. No one was hurt, and the damage sustained by the building was a broken window. Eastbound traffic on the streets of 400 South and 200 East was closed as 400 people were forced to evacuate.[1]
[edit] Trivia
- Designed by the same architect, the downtown Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library has a very similar design. This is clearly apparent in the main foyer and the sweeping outer facade.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved on September 19, 2006.
[edit] External links
- SLC Library Main Page
- USA Today article on SLC Main Library
- Archidose article on the library
- Salt Lake County at National Register of Historic Places
| Salt Lake City, Utah | |
|---|---|
| Buildings and sites | Climate | Education | Famous Citizens | Geography | History | Libraries | Mayors | Media | Transportation | |
| Neighborhoods | |
| The Avenues | Capitol Hill | Central City | Downtown | East Bench | Federal Heights | Glendale | Poplar Grove | Rose Park | Sugar House | |
