Burton Barr Central Library ~ October 21, 2006

I was always a fan of architect Will Bruder, especially since he was a neighbor of mine at one time, but I had never been inside the Burton Barr Central Library that he designed. After hearing everyone rave about it, I have to admit that it kind of burst my bubble because I wasn’t very impressed with the big new library that he built. Personally I thought it was too wide open with too much glass, not a pleasant experience for someone with acrophobia (fear of heights) or agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). On the fifth floor when you’re standing at the end of the stacks there’s only a pane of glass between you and the sky. You’re not even safe in the elevator because that’s glass-walled too! (It’s in the center of the building surrounded by a black-bottomed reflecting pool.) Maybe I’m a minority, I don’t know, but I prefer cozy cave-like spaces! (I did think the library’s entrance tunnel was pretty cool.)

Anyway, once I got over my initial sensory shock, I realized that the library’s collections are quite impressive indeed. We hung out at the magazine reading section for a while. They have a huge selection of magazines and we could have spent the whole day sitting there reading. It was nice and quiet, too, not many people around on a Saturday morning. But our 6-year-old got bored quickly so we took him over to the children’s section, which was safely situated on the ground floor and had a really interesting exhibit of Caldecott Medal books and more. We also passed by a Rare Book Room which was closed, but they had displays to look at through the glass. They also have an Arizona Room, Teen Room, Spanish Language Collection and Special Needs Center in addition to New Books, Audio-Visual Area, General Reference, Career Center, Government Documents, Career Center, Maps, Fiction and Non-fiction. For more information about the library and its collections, see: http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/branchinfo.jsp?bid=BBB