Beyond Primary Colors
Brooklyn Public Library's renovated youth wing is warm, inviting, and entirely kitsch-free
Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2000
"What we didn't want was a sort of Disney effect," says Martin, an architect and the library's director of planning, design, and facilities. "Children's taste is very sophisticated, and sometimes we feel that adults almost talk down to them in designing spaces." Reflecting that belief, the library last month unveiled a 10,500-square-foot youth wing that manages to be warm and inviting, even whimsical, but without any treacle or kitsch. Instead of bright colors, there are richly stained wooden bookshelves, tables, and window seats--some new and some restored--that reflect the rest of the library's 1940s design. There are also clever, elegant solutions to some tricky design problems, like how to break up and enliven a long, tunnel-like space. Staff at the library are up front about the fact that the youth wing renovation was long overdue. Though Brooklyn has the fifth-largest library system in the country, its children's room has long been a drab, institutional place, far from the inventive, exciting youth spaces that have sprung up elsewhere in recent years. Brooklyn underwent its last renovation in 1966, when workers installed a dropped ceiling and what Martin calls "deadly fluorescent lights." "Everything was brown--the shelves, the walls, the tiles," adds David Mowery, who heads the central library's youth services division. "It was very unappealing. It looked like this big brown box." Help was a long way off, because by 1975, New York City went bankrupt and Brooklyn Public Library slid into a long period of financial hardship. The new youth wing is part of a massive renovation program now going on to reverse the stagnation that resulted.
You won't find any rocket ships or fantasy houses in the new youth wing at Brooklyn (NY) Public Library. Nor will you find the color red. To Elisabeth Martin, who oversaw the recent $3-million renovation, rocket ships and other staples of library children's rooms are just "gimmicky" items that kids tire of quickly. And while primary colors like red might scream "childhood" to adults, they can actually be agitating to kids.
A view from the technology loft. The outside wall of the loft features quotes from children's literature.
The library invited 12 architectural firms to submit designs for the youth wing, finally choosing the New York firm of Pasanella+Klein Stolzman +Berg. Besides the awkward length of the space, there were several problems the architects had to address. For instance, the old youth area had no separate room for programs, no dedicated space for teens, and was so cramped that much of the collection sat in the basement unused.
A solution to many of these problems is found in the new, 1,200-square-foot "technology loft." The loft not only expands the library's square footage, it breaks the monotonous space into more inviting units. Underneath the loft is book territory, with a series of U-shaped reading alcoves that, combined with the lower ceiling, create a sense of cozy groundedness. Climb the stairs and 36 green, blue, and orange iMacs sit ready to take off like rows of candy-coated bubbles.
To create a space for young adults, the library relocated a career center adjacent to the children's room. Now teens can hang out in their own room, set off from the rest of the wing by carpeting and pastel-colored lounge chairs.
The new layout has finally allowed the library to display its entire children's and young adult collection, as well as to add new materials. And to the delight of everyone, the old dropped ceiling was ripped out to reveal the library's original high ceiling and tall windows. The designers also replaced that deadly fluorescent lighting with many different kinds of softer, brighter illumination.
Two new program rooms will allow the library to offer at least three times as many programs, says Mowery, as will a new $500,000 endowment that came as part of a $1-million youth wing bequest.
The only problem on the horizon is that all that new programming, plus the added space, will require more staff, Mowery says. The library has hired three new paraprofessionals for the wing, two of whom plan to go to library school. But Mowery doesn't know how many more staffers the library's budget can absorb. In addition, all New York libraries have had a hard time training and recruiting librarians because of the city's low salaries (SLJ, February 1999, p. 18).
Still, the folks at Brooklyn Public these days are feeling decidedly optimistic. A week after the opening, Mowery notes that people who visit say they're thrilled by the new space. A few even had tears in their eyes. It seems that after years of that cramped, drab decor, "they can't believe how nice it is."--Andrea Glick
