Library Architecture 🏛️ (UNDERWAY)

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“Architecture? C’mon Jed, why do I need to know about architecture? Can’t we just place a bunch of books and shelves and maybe computers in a building, and bing bang boom, it becomes a library?”

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While it is probably not necessary for a library student or staff to be able to design a building from scratch (esp. since dedicated architectural firms/businesses take care that), an awareness of certain architectural principles or methods would be helpful when arranging interior furnishings or displays or the general layout. A professional should take pride in their workspace, after all.

Plus, if patrons want to ask or talk about the design of the library surrounding them, it would be disappointing to reply with “I don’t know, I’m not an architect ¯\(ツ)/¯ ”

And c’mon, just look at some of these awe-inspiring works of architectural creativity.

These libraries are larger-than-life artworks that surround the self; spaces for scholarship and imagination that have been made in the minds of expert designers and engineers, and brought into the world by painstaking labour.

Relevant DDC and LOC
- DDC: 720s for Architecture https://www.librarything.com/mds/72X,
  - maybe combine that with Libraries (020 or 025) for 720.025?
  - 022 for Libraries - Buildings and Grounds https://www.librarything.com/mds/022
- LoC: N for Fine Arts? G for Geography, Anthropology, and Recreation? Hmm…, I’ll need to double-check this one
  - It’s Class N (Fine Arts), Subclass NA https://www.loc.gov/aba/cataloging/classification/lcco/lcco_n.pdf
Relevant Subject Headings from LSCH
- Library architecture https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85076661
  - Library architecture--United States https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2009129191
- Library buildings--Barrier-free design https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85076662
- Library buildings--Fires and fire prevention https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2004003335
- Amateur architecture https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2008001492
- Architects https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006565
- Architects and builders https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2002008689
- Architects and community https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006576
- Architects and engineers https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2007002739
- Architects and patrons https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006578
- Architects as artists https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006579
- Architects--Books and reading https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2010003322
- Architects--Certification https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006566
- Architects--Fiction https://lccn.loc.gov/sh2007100651
- Architectural acoustics https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006581
- Architectural aesthetics https://lccn.loc.gov/sh86000747
- Architectural casts https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006582
- Architectural contracts https://lccn.loc.gov/sh89001506
- Architectural criticism https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006583
- Architect-designed decorative arts https://lccn.loc.gov/sh90002114
- Architect-designed furniture https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006563
- Architect-designed houses https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85006564
Awesome titles about Library Architecture, their classifications (DDCs and LOCs), their subject headings, and their TAFECat listings
- The Library: A World History, by James WP Campbell
- Temples of Books: Magnificent Libraries around the World, by Marianne Julia Strauss
- Improbable Libraries, by Alex Johnson
Fantastic websites and online sources about Library Architecture, especially in Sydney
- Amazing Library Designs, which showcases select libraries across Australia on the basis of the appeal of their building designs https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/gallery/
  - (ohhhhh this is managed by ALIA! nice! I don’t need to make another database since Amazing Library Designs is already a comprehensive aggregator)
- Which libraries in Sydney (greater Sydney region from Blue Mountains in the west to Bondi beach in the east, and from Campbelltown or Sutherland Shire in the south to Hornsby or Northern Beaches in the north) are included on the Amazing Library Designs website?
  - Campion College (a tertiary education institute in Toongabbie)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/campion-college-australia/
  - Darling Square (City of Sydney)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/darling-square/
  - Edmund and Joanna Capon Research Library (Art Gallery of NSW)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/agnsw-library-lounge/
  - Green Square (City of Sydney)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/green-square/
  - Jerry Toeplitz Library (Australian Film, Television, and Radio School, which is around Moore Park)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/jerzy-toeplitz-library-aftrs/
  - Marrickville (Inner West)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/marrickville-library/
  - PHIVE (City of Parramatta)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/city-of-parramatta/
    - https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=XXWcHBYBx9D
  - Springwood (Blue Mountains)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/springwood-library/
  - St Benedicts (Notre Dame university)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/st-benedicts-uni-notre-dame/
  - St Leonards (Lane Cove)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/st-leonards-library/
  - Strathfield (Strathfield lol)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/straithfield-library/
  - UTS (University of Technology Sydney)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/uts-library/
  - Wentworth Point (City of Parramatta)
    - https://amazinglibrarydesigns.org.au/project/wentworth-point/
- The websites of of library suppliers, who provide furnishings that occupy library building spaces
  - Quantum Library Supplies https://quantumlibraries.com.au/
  - Raeco https://www.raeco.com.au/
  - Syba signs https://www.sybasigns.com.au/
Pictures of the PHIVE ‘Libraries around the World’ exhibit
- https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/community/events/upcoming-events/Libraries-Around-the-World-Exhibition-Parramatta-Library-ev_1e87d70007464e91b805b37825018ad6
Virtual Tours of Libraries with Matterport https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/7-libraries-you-can-visit-from-home (some links are dead)
- https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=fs3gQv7n1QG
- https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=XXWcHBYBx9D
(Abridged) Glossary of Architectural terms
- (ADD STUFF TO THIS LIST OVER TIME)

(Banner photo: The Baroque library of the Clementium building complex (Prague, Czechia). The Clementium also houses the National Library of the Czech Republic, which could be considered as the equivalent to our NLA in Canberra)

All instances of using copyrighted pictures or works in this blog are covered by the Australian Federal Copyright Act 1968, namely Division III Section 40 Fair dealing for purpose of research or study and Division III Section 41 Fair dealing for purpose of criticism or review.

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