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Maybe we're lucky in Pittsburgh, but we have the best of both worlds at the main branch of the Carnegie Library. You can take a tour of where I work 2 or 3 day
by edw519 16y ago
Maybe we're lucky in Pittsburgh, but we have the best of both worlds at the main branch of the Carnegie Library. You can take a tour of where I work 2 or 3 days per week:
http://www.clpgh.org/locations/main/tours/virtualtour/ http://www.clpgh.org/locations/main/tours/virtualtour/
It's fantastic. It was built by Andrew Carnegie in 1895 and most of it is original. I get inspiration from the 20 foot ceilings and hand made ornamentation everywhere you look. They simply don't build things like this any more. There are quiet reading rooms, large tables, plenty of light, and oh yeah, a Crazy Mocha coffee shop in the building. I use a cell phone dongle on my laptop and most people know that email is my preferred communication method.
If I need a break, I can look at priceless artifacts in the Carnegie museum through the windows in the open stacks. Or just get the world's most disgusting hot dog at the "O" a block away. If I need inspiration, that'll either make me or break me.
One of these days, I'd like to make the claim that some incredible technology of the 21st century was conceived in an edifice borne out of the some of the best technology of the 19th century.
"My aspirations take a higher flight. Mine be it to have contributed to the enlightenment and the joys of the mind, to the things of the spirit, to all that tends to bring into the lives of the toilers of Pittsburgh sweetness and light. I hold this the noblest possible use of wealth." - Andrew Carnegie at the Dedication of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, November 5, 1895.
- infocaptor 16y agovow, another pittsburgher. I once used the North hills library and it was really productive. Will have to check out the moon library.
- steveklabnik 16y agoThere's a bunch of us around here.
- infocaptor 16y agoHey Steve, you got pretty cool website. Was really tempted to enter a password at the bottom :)
- steveklabnik 16y agoThanks. :) I'm going to make it a real terminal someday...
- snippyhollow 16y agoI used to work (a few years ago) at Sainte-Geneviève library (in Paris), and it was as you said: inspirational. You simply "had to" work once there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_Sainte-Genevi%C3%A8ve http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_Sainte-Genevi...
- melipone 16y agoYes, I remember it well. It's next to the Pantheon. I remember getting those ancient, priceless books that couldn't be found anywhere else.
- SkyMarshal 16y agoThe second picture in your link reminds me a lot of the NY (City) Public Library reading room. Loved that place when I lived there, one of my favorites. I understand Isaac Asimov did too.
- nickpinkston 16y agoFully agree - we've got great libraries in Pgh. My main complaint is the very limited hours they have. I'd be there 9-9 everyday if I could. I always thought we should bring back the days of libraries as community centers - not just books. For instance, why isn't there a community workshop in or part of the library system - that's a big part of education...
- adestefan 16y agoCarnegie built beautiful libraries all throughout the mid-west and northeast. Most universities and cities that were around in the late 19th to early 20th centuries have a Carnegie library or a building in town was a library at one point in time. The small liberal arts college I attended in PA had a Carnegie library that was converted into an art museum. I took photography and other art classes in the building. It was very small, but an inspiration.
- marklabedz 16y ago>>The small liberal arts college I attended in PA had a Carnegie library that was converted into an art museum. Likewise, the small liberal arts school I attended in IN. At the time it was converted, it was structurally in better shape than the "new" library, but unfortunately, quite undersized.
- Isamu 16y ago+1 for the clpgh main branch. The most awesome thing about the extended Carnegie Library system is how quickly I can go from seeing mention of a book (e.g. on HN) to finding it in the catalog and getting it delivered to the branch near my home. ILL is still a bit of a bother in contrast. The combined catalog of all the libraries in the system has tremendously increased my use of the library, and I always was a library geek.
- tarkin2 16y agoThe British library also has a coffee shop within. Not a bad building, plenty of reading rooms, fairly attractive, too.