Images: www.stationpointphotographic.com/
In the Carnegie Reading Room, stacks
remain in their original locations and the
furniture has been restored. A circulation
desk in clear view is designed to be
accessible to all visitors. A library manager’s
office and a bank of public use computers
were added to the Hall. Downstairs,
tutorial and community meeting rooms are
provided with state of the art audiovisual
and improved safety. A safe discovered
in construction has become a display for
Carnegie-era artifacts.
In a city facing infrastructural budget
challenges, St. John’s reminds us of the
value of maintaining a city’s heritage
bricks and mortar while also sustaining a
community’s vital social infrastructure. With
attendance down and the facility outmoded,
the modest $1.9 million budget came with a
long to-do list. But five years from design to
construction, and a number of community
engagements, heritage applications, and
program reviews along the way, attendance
and circulation numbers are up to nearly
double what they used to be, now that the
library is open to the public again.
www.publiccityarchitecture.com
6 - www.refurbandrestore.co.uk