The Community Library in Ketchum, Idaho has some distinguishing elements

 1.  Great collection of national newspapers, even the Financial Times Weekend, but the magazine collection is average.

2.  Nice seating areas and a fireplace.

3.  Projection of children's art on a wall in the lobby.

4.  Really nice Lecture Hall.  The back wall is their rare books collection, and they have a hearing loop for the hard of hearing.  And they have decent comfortable chairs for the speakers on the stage, which is unheard of.

5.  Should have thought at the time they were planning for a new building to include an exhibit hall.

Last week was National Library Week

 I usually put together an omnibus piece about various items I've come across over the past year, from new libraries to interesting programs.

-- "National Library Week, 4/7 - 4/13," 2024.  Note that it is in the comments section where I try to include mentions/links to the stuff I include the next year.

-- "Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets," 2019

I didn't get around to it this year.

The Trump Administration intends to shutter the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  It's sad that the way the Trump Administration, in another anti-education and learning move, around the time of NLW announced it wants to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and halted all its grants ("Federal museum and library grants abruptly terminated," USA Today).

IMLS was effectively shuttered in early April when nearly all employees were placed on administrative leave, and all work on approving federal grants for state, local and academic libraries and museums was immediately halted.

This reflects MAGA "thinking more generally."  See "In the Land of Self-Defeat, New York Times.

It's a joke that this is about budget savings, IMLS's budget is $304 million, much of which goes to grants to state-based organizations.

This is about destroying three different things, which I intend to write more about, (1) destruction of civil society, especially one that is focused on knowledge and critical thinking (S," New York Times); (2) federal government generally; and (3) education/higher education.

2.  Book banning still marches apace (:US public schools banned over 10K books during 2023-2024 academic year, report says," USA Today, "Rightwing groups across US push new bans to limit ‘obscene’ books in libraries," Guardian).  Book Riot reports that US-based right wing groups are taking book banning overseas ("Book Banning Attempts Rise in UK as US Groups Reach Overseas").

Also reinforcing Trump anti-education efforts has led to book banning at the US Naval Academy ("Book ban at military service academies draws flak from Congress,").

I realize that the Trump Administration is basically following the playbook of the hard right political parties in Hungary, Fidesz, currently, and the Law and Justice Party in Poland before they were turned out of office {"Enacting the “Illiberal Playbook” in Hungary and Poland," Perspective on Politics).

3.  Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch ("Young people won’t, or can’t, read a book. Now democracy is dying. Coincidence?") writes about a significant drop off in book reading overall, but especially amongst college aged youth.

A viral essay with an anodyne headline — “The Average College Student Today” — from a self-proclaimed professor at a U.S. regional public university, under the pseudonym Hilarius Bookbinder, has rocked online academia with its claim that the typical modern undergraduate student is functionally illiterate. They essentially argue that smartphone-addled young people — echoing their president — might read passages or ideas, but can’t finish an adult book from cover to cover.

“I’m not saying our students just prefer genre books or graphic novels or whatever,” Bookbinder, citing 30 years of classroom teaching experience, wrote. “No, our average graduate literally could not read a serious adult novel cover-to-cover and understand what they read. They just couldn’t do it. They don’t have the desire to try, the vocabulary to grasp what they read, and most certainly not the attention span to finish.”

I'll admit that with 30 years of the Internet including 10+ of smartphone, consumption of information moves to the article rather than the book.  My attention span has certainly diminished, and I don't necessarily read a book a week.... although journal articles should count for more than regular articles. 

New library/community space + 100% affordable housing mixed use building in New York City

The building uses brick and is kind of two buildings, with one set back.  There are 175 AH units, from studios to three bedrooms.

It's in NYC, so of course it's larger than similar projects elsewhere ("Inwood development with public library and 100% affordable housing opens," 6sqft).

In "Opposition to affordable housing in Chevy Chase, DC," last year I wrote about a proposal to rebuild the Chevy Chase Community Center to include affordable housing.

The big example nationally is the Hollywood Library in Portland, Oregon.  It has a library and cafe on the ground floor and 40+ AH units on three floors above.  

This building shows that kind of mixed use is possible, and that the architecture can be reasonably decent.

As the blog entry points out, there have been many attempts to do something similar in DC, but mostly they fail.

In the comments, charlie points out this isn't so cheap and that the West End Library mixed use project--I think it has problems--worked because it is luxury housing.  

An anonymous commenter makes a great point that maybe the best thing this new building could do is to help reformulate the street experience on the East Side, which is pretty much disjoint compared to the West Side.

Both mixed use library projects in New York City prove the point that it's about "transformational projects action planning" ("A wrinkle in thinking about the Transformational Projects Action Planning approach: Great public buildings aren't just about design, but what they do," 2022) focused on the building program and quality architecture rather than a focus on startling "design," and the building not connecting to the community around it, managerial capacity and vision, for which DC had a shortage.  It's full of high quality amenities:

Measuring 20,000 square feet, the library retains its previously offered services, including literacy programs and story times. The library’s open and flexible floor plan makes space for computer classes, a community room, co-working spaces, and quiet reading spaces.

Amenities at The Eliza include bike storage lockers, a shared laundry room, a children’s playroom, a recreation room, a gym, rooftop gardens, an outdoor lounge and terrace with views of the Hudson River, and an on-site resident manager. 

All residences feature energy-efficient appliances. Residents will also have direct access to the renovated library facility and a 10,000-square-foot Activities, Culture, and Training Center (ACTS) for job training. The ACTS Center features a cutting-edge STEM Robotics learning hub, a teaching kitchen, a performance space, a sensory room, and classrooms designed to meet the needs of youth and their families.

The NYC building is the second of its kind.  The Sunset Library and Apartments rebuild was first ("NYC’s first 100% affordable housing development with new public library opens in Sunset Park" 6sqft).  

This project was done by the Brooklyn Public Library, which is a separate organization from the NYPL.

By doing the project as mixed use, BPL stated that the cost of creating the library was half the cost of a stand alone, single use library project.

National Library Week, 4/7 - 4/13

Normally it's at the end of the month, this year, the middle.  Personally I think it should be the entire month.

-- "Libraries are rooted in the community and here your story can grow," Wilmington News-Journal.  From the article:

Libraries and librarians play such a crucial role in the well-being of our communities, and the Delaware public libraries are no exception. We are not a disparate collection of books,: Today’s libraries function as vibrant community centers that contribute to the social, cultural, and educational fabric of our neighborhoods, enriching the lives of young and old. 

Libraries help our communities face the rising challenges of the modern world, such as isolation, disparity and misinformation. The services they provide and the programs they deliver are aimed at connection, compassion, truth, and equity because our mission is rooted in the needs of our community. 

Despite the misguided perception that libraries are unnecessary, evidence continues to support what those of us in the library community have known for a long time: libraries benefit us all.

The four biggest issues these days are:

1.  Campaigns all across the US, in conservative areas, to ban books. It's mostly in the schools, but also in public libraries ("Why Americans must unite against the organized effort to ban library books," Nashville Tennessean, "History of Book Bans in the U.S.," National Geographic, "The Fight for the American Public Library: Library boards, school boards and legislatures are becoming battlegrounds in a push to censor books. Communities are fighting back.," Bloomberg, "Public libraries are the latest front in culture war battle over books," Washington Post, "Book ban attempts spiked in 2023, new research shows," Politico), "Book bans in US public schools increase by 28% in six months, Pen report finds," Guardian).

The Utah State Legislature proposes a statewide banning policy.  If a book is banned by three school systems, all have to pull it ("Bill that requires statewide removal of school library books deemed pornographic by 3 districts close to passage," Salt Lake Deseret News).

And state library agencies in conservative states are dropping their membership in the American Library Association ("Florida joins conservative states severing ties with national library group," Politico).

There has been some defunding and or attempts of libraries in Michigan and Missouri ("Missouri libraries dodge GOP funding strike — for now," Kansas City Beacon). And probably elsewhere.

Toronto Public Library has a display of books increasingly banned in the US.  

The Brooklyn Public Library will provide a library card to anyone in the US, to evade censorship bans.

In response to book banning efforts, the director of the Hoboken New Jersey Library made the entire city a "book sanctuary" ("Haters attacked an inclusive public library. So its director made the whole city a book sanctuary," LGBTQ Nation).

Obviously, it affects authors ("For John Green, the Battle Over Access to Books Has Gotten Personal," New York Times).

2.  Funding.  Besides punitive funding cuts in support of book banning, libraries always have to worry about funding.

For example, New York City, which has just opened up a bunch of new library facilities ("A Love Letter to Libraries, Long Overdue," New York Times) proposed budget cuts that could lead to weekend closures ("NYC Budget Would Close Libraries On Weekends While Police Get Huge Bonuses," Vice).   Though later the proposal was rescinded.

Polarization doesn't help ("In the land of self-defeat" and "I Am Being Pushed Out of One of the Last Public Squares, the Library," New York Times).

3.  Libraries as community hubs.  Both book bans and funding cuts (it is proposed that the Huntington Beach Library system outsource, "Huntington Beach considering privatizing library operations," Orange County Register) are tragic considering how libraries (and parks) are the primary civic assets in a community that are public facing (schools too, but only for those people who have families), and key "social infrastructure" elements ("Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets").

For example, "Residents offered free health checks in libraries," BBC and "Creative library project underway in Wilmington to spur community and economic development," Wilmington News-Journal.

Library staff in SF hold a press conference and protest about understaffing.  Photo: Martin do Nascimento, KQED.

4.  Libraries as community hubs also can be a drawback.  Since they are really the only public -civic asset that is open for set hours, has staff, and restrooms, libraries can be inundated with dealing with civic problems like homelessness, violence ("'Not What I Signed Up For': SF Librarians Demand More Security Guards," KQED/PBS), drug use, and mental health ("Texas libraries work to bridge state’s mental health services gap," Texas Tribune) and mental illness.

Other developments.

1.  Nonprofit opens free bookstore.  Why not put such facilities in libraries ("Nonprofit Reading Ready Pittsburgh opens free bookstore in Homestead ," WESA/NPR).

2.  Daycare at the Park City, Utah Library.  Probably in rented space ("PC Tots invites all to ribbon cutting at Park City Library," Park Record).  The Drumbrae Library in Scotland includes a day care facility ("Work begins on Drumbrae's new library, day care centre and youth cafe," Guardian, 2011).

Libros Book Club.  Photo: Nate Martinez, Express-News.

3.  Independent readers lounge in San Antonio.  Indicates demand for longer hours, or special ways to meet the needs of other audiences, not unlike how university libraries stay open late ("Late-night readers lounge opens in San Antonio. Here's what we know," San Antonio Express-News).  Note that the central library in Montreal stays open til 10pm.

Also see "24-7 Library Spaces Drive Commuter Student Success," Inside Higher Education.

4.  World Book Day, March 7th.  I had no idea there is a World Book Day.  Studies in the UK find that few children read for pleasure ("World Book Day finds children are put off reading for pleasure: Annual event to encourage young readers has revealed research finding that significant numbers feel discouraged from following their own tastes," and "Almost a million children in the UK do not own a book," Guardian).

5.  Lots of libraries are under threat of closure in the UK because of the defunding of local government by the national Conservative government ("Battle to save Britain's libraries as budget cuts, closures and austerity leaves future uncertain," Big Issue, "Review finds libraries in England suffer ‘lack of recognition’ from government," Guardian).

I was reading an article about Reagan, transit and cities, and it was the first article that put the funding cuts under the title of "austerity" which has been the British Conservative Government's policy since 2010 of defunding local government and local services ("How austerity (and ideology) broke Britain," Guardian).

6.  Underfunding school libraries.  There was an article in the Post about Oxon Hill, Maryland ("In a Maryland school library, empty shelves are about to get emptier") although a letter to the editor ("A community can build Oxon Hill Elementary's library") suggested parents organize themselves.  That happened a number of years ago in DC ("The fight for school libraries in D.C.," Washington Examiner).  Also see "Cressida Cowell renews call for £100m investment in primary school libraries," Guardian and "D.C. Council Bill Seeks to Close Gap in Librarians and Literacy," City Paper.

In a political move the conservative state government in Texas took over the Houston Public Schools, and the hard ass new superintendent got rid of the libraries and remade them into discipline centers.

7.  US Literacy Crisis ("30 million adults are unable to read a simple story to their children, according to the National Literacy Institute," WEAR TV)).  From the article:

Addressing the U.S. literacy crisis: Study shows children, adults lack reading skills 30 million adults are unable to read a simple story to their children, according to the National Literacy Institute. This is a generational issue that can lead to other problems like high unemployment rates and even poor health. 

This is a generational issue that can lead to other problems like high unemployment rates and even poor health. In fact, statistics show one in three children entering kindergarten lack the basic skills they need to learn to read. And two-thirds of U.S. fourth graders do not read at grade level. 

"For a child who is struggling to read, to have an adult sit with them one-on-one and not just listen to them and make some corrections as they're reading but mainly to be their cheerleader while they're practicing -- that's huge," Pierce said. But learning how to read is only half the battle. Children have to continue to practice reading as they grow.

8.  Literary programs.  The LA Library system received a publishing outfit as a donation and will continue to publish books ("The L.A. Public Library is getting into book publishing. Why it makes total sense," Los Angeles Times) and Hugo House, a nonprofit in Seattle focused on literary arts is in financial distress ("Seattle’s Hugo House faces uncertain future," Seattle Times).

9.  Private library: Prelinger Library devoted to ephemera ("This San Francisco Library Collects Print Materials You Were Never Meant to See," KQED/PBS).  I figure that's where most of my ephemera will be donated too when I die, plus either Washingtonia Library or the Historical Sociey in DC and the Utah Historical Society.

10.  Oodi Library, the central library in Helsinki.  I've been meaning to write about this in a separate entry.  The ground floor is a cultural center.  At the cost of fewer books.

11.  Co-location.  I mentioned how the main library in Pocatello now has a pedestrianized street in front of it, and a park, including a playground, across the street.  The park has an amphitheater and is used for the Saturday Farmers Market.  

The Nottingham UK library has added a playground to its front "Children's play area opens outside Nottingham Central Library," BBC).

I've mentioned how the South Park Library in Seattle captured the street in front of it.

12.  The Boston Public Library has started a nutrition program headed by a chef, headquartered in the Roxbury branch ("'Boston Public Library’s new chef to lead cooking program in Roxbury'," CBS News).

Third place issues

Third places are what we might call community hubs. It's a term popularized by Ray Oldenburg in a book of the same title.

-- Third places” as community builders, Brookings
-- "Third places, true citizen spaces," UNESCO

Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone.  There is a documentary out, "Join or Die," featuring Robert Putnam, who has been writing about this for decades ("A Forthcoming Documentary Examines How Civic Life in America Is a Matter of ‘Join or Die’," Colossal).

A lot of the time they are commodified spaces, places where you have to spend money to participate.  Notably examples are England's pubs ("Community pubs campaign," Plunkett Foundation, "U.K. pubs struggle to survive as work, leisure habits shift," Los Angeles Times), Viennese coffee shops, and neighborhood cafes in France especially Paris.  

“There’s a true sense of community that falls away when pubs disappear,” she says. “You lose a sense of history.” Given the crucial role that pubs have played in local neighborhoods, it’s perhaps no surprise that some communities have stepped in themselves to keep the lights on. 

When the Step pub in north London closed in 2020, there was an outcry as property developers tried to take it over, leading Dan Jones, a resident of four years, to consider a different solution: “Why don’t we try and buy it as a community?” 

He began handing out fliers and, in a matter of weeks, “very quickly realized there was a large appetite” to enact his plan. Hundreds of people pledged to invest in a fundraising campaign, and within four weeks, the effort raised $357,000 — far in excess of the $319,000 goal — which was topped up by a government grant of $382,000. “It took us by surprise, the speed at which we were able to raise the money and the fact that we got over target,” Jones says.

... Keeping prices low — a pint of beer costs from $6, compared with $9 at many London pubs — and offering the space for free to community groups and activities including kids’ clubs, Italian classes and local folk musicians has eased concerns about gentrification and fostered new connections, Gadsby Peet says.

And corner stores, which in the cities like New York, continue on as bodegas ("What Makes A New York City Convenience Store A Bodega," Tasting Table).

Social halls.  In the US, there were/are some uncommodified spaces like churches, church social halls (where the DC punk movement got its start), old political precincts and ward halls, and ethnic based associations and meeting halls, like German American groups, or the "Chinese associations" in US Chinatowns ("How COVID and anti-Asian hate conspired to gut family associations in Chinatown," San Francisco Chronicle).  

I have written about how many Salt Lake neighborhoods have what I call "neighborliness," with community events like movies in the park, pot lucks, and 4th of July parades, which I think comes from the Mormons and their organizing around their church.

Music places (""Ground up (guerrilla) art #2: community halls and music (among other things)."," 2011).

Community/recreation centers can do it too.  But not usually.  Programming is key.  Jewish Community Centers are another form.  Like the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

Photo from "The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Announces the Seasonal Re-Opening of PHS Pop Up Gardens in Manayunk and South Street ," Philadelphia RowHome Magazine.

Beer Gardens.  The Philadelphia Horticultural Society, followed by the city parks system, has been a leader in creating pop up beer gardens as community revitalization levers.

The Wall Street Journal had a good article on parks, "Cities' Message to Young Families: Play and Stay--New Features Include Parks, Playgrounds and Beer Gardens," (also) and I was struck by the description of what we might call a blending of business and park, specifically food and beverage service, and that "beer gardens" are the most in-demand feature of new parks ("Commerce as the engine of urbanism and parks," 2014).

I guess it makes sense, given the historical connection to beer production, that Milwaukee County in Wisconsin has beer gardens in some of their parks, and a traveling beer garden park promotion program.

This reminds me of the comment by Professor Alex Wall, who wrote a book about Victor Gruen, one of the leaders in the development of shopping malls, which is:

"Commerce is the engine of urbanism."

Union halls and fraternal organizations too (like the Masons).  Also see "Back to school #2: education unions should create multifaceted public education "meeting halls" comparable to AIA chapter "architecture centers"" (2016).  Plus veterans and the American Legion and VFW halls ("Social organizations and aging: The benefits of VFW membership," KU thesis).

These kinds of institutions have waned as society has become more individualized and nuclear family focused, but also as the organization of business activity has changed.  For example, in once industrial cities like  Baltimore or Pittsburgh you had lots of neighborhood bars, not unlike England's pubs, catering to people who did shift work, as plants often operated 24 hours/day.  Same with breakfast places/diners.

Membership libraries.  Before public institutions like libraries, a number of communities had membership libraries like the Free Library of Philadelphia, and multi-faceted cultural organizations called an Athenaeum in cities like Boston, Hartford, and Alexandria, Virginia--all are still going strong.

There was a membership library in DC called Provisions that attempted this model. They have since affiliated with George Mason University in the suburbs.

Increasingly, regular libraries too are that third place, although few have coffee shops, and there aren't many opportunities for interaction along the line of"social bridge" concepts ("Outdoor library book sale as an opportunity for "social bridging"/triangulation").  You're with people, but alone.

William H. Whyte and "triangulation."  Whyte, who had been editor of Fortune Magazine, became interested in cities and public space, and pioneered methods of urban observation, including filming people and how they used public space.  He wrote a couple of very important books on cities and activation, The Social Life of Small Urban Places and The City: Rediscovering the Center.

One of his concepts is what he called "triangulation," where people who didn't know each other talk to each other.  Triangulation is the process: 

in which a stimulus provides a social bond between people. Strangers are more likely to talk to one another in the presence of such a stimulus. The stimulus might be musicians, or street entertainers, or apiece of outdoor sculpture. Museum professionals will note the relation of these stimuli to landmark exhibits which have a similar effect.

Anne Lusk, in her dissertation on greenways, calls this a social bridge. and I like that term better, it sounds less "social science-y." 

Book clubs.... Some of the libraries in Salt Lake County have cookbook clubs, where people cook a recipe from a chosen book and share the results in a pot luck.

Mixed use civic assets.  This article outlines a fair number of mixed use examples of civic assets promoting third place type community building.

-- "Update: Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets," 2019

College student unions.  Are great models for community spaces ("Building community in student unions," KSU thesis, " STUDENT UNIONS ARE CHANGING LIVES BY DESIGN!," LPA Design Studios). 

Goucher College in Baltimore County calls its an athenaeum too.  

The building combines the college’s main library and student activities center. Besides the campus library, the building has spaces for performances, lectures, and other events, an art gallery, the campus center for community service and multicultural affairs, fitness facilities, meeting and study spaces, and a café..

Art Gallery memberships.  Same goes for museums.  Membership has privileges, people can hang in galleries, etc., like at the Phillips Collection in DC.

Social property.  Our market system isn't set up well for nonprofit properties, the BTMFBA writings, not withstanding.

There aren't really institutions around to keep such facilities going although many people do it on a more individualized cooperative type structure, like BloomBars in Columbia Heights, and in Takoma, Electric Maid Community Exchange ("'Third places' strengthen community. Here's how we can rebuild them," WBUR/NPR), snd the Rhizome art space.

In Salt Lake there is the example of the Mestizo Institute of Culture and the Arts, but I think it's slimmed down a lot of those functions.  It's still cool conceptually ("Artists create ‘love letters’ to Salt Lake City’s west side," Salt Lake Tribune).  

El Libro Mobile in Santa Ana/Orange County is cool too, with both physical popups and other activities.

Settlement houses.  Another type of social property are the old "settlement houses" that were common to the big cities in the late 1800s into the 1900s.  Neighborhood House is a remnant of this movement still active in Salt Lake City.

Alone together: Today's coffee shop is the primary third place, and to a lesser extent the bookstore/cafe.  Now, probably the most prominent third place in the US is the coffee shop--over the last 30+ years "coffee culture" has developed, with a big push by Starbucks, in the US in the place of bars.   

But lots of commodification, and a very specific aesthetic, called the Global Village Coffeehouse.  Still, while there are a lot of chains, and some failed chains, there has been room for independents to make their place within this ecosystem.  Most bigger cities have an array of cool places.

But there's a lot of bad coffee out there too.  We're looking at you Starbucks!  But they provide the third space.

Note they have a more bar-ry night-time concept too, ("'Evenings' at Starbucks: Coffee shop to sell wine, craft beer, small plates," USA Today).  

Xando's 19th Street, photo: Keith Stanley.

That's what Xando/Cozi did, at least in DC in the 90s.  It was cool, they had stores at each end of Dupont Circle, and we made friends with some of the staff, etc. ("Coffee, with a twist," Washington Post, 1997, "New battle brews in coffee war," Washington Business Journal).   

For a long time they had excellent bagels that were square and baked in a wood oven in house.  Maybe 10 years ago, they went to regular and the magic was over.  But the company never figured out how to manage.

They had food throughout the day that was better than a regular coffee shop, plus alcohol at night.

Bookstores are great for hanging and attending events.  Not sure about making "social bridges."  Bur a lot of Barnes & Nobles have cafes (and books and periodicals!).  Fortunately most cities of at least a medium size have some decent independent bookstores that sponsor events, etc.

Inside The Cloud Room, a co-working space in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood that is thriving as workers seek a space that is not home and not the office. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

WeWork/Shared Spaces/Co-working. The WeWork "hot desk" phenomenon too is an element of creating third spaces, although definitely for a profit. 

People don't always want to be isolated and alone ("Even as WeWork goes bankrupt, co-working is poised to survive and thrive in other spaces," GeekWire, "sIkea is betting you'll come to its coworking space in a mall, then shop at one of its stores," Business Insider).

Project for Public Spaces: The Power of 10.  PPS addresses placemaking at multiple scales.  One concept is the "power of 10," where places need multiple elements to not only attract people, but to keep them there, and keep them coming back.

Third Place issues around the country

Salt Lake backyard concerts.  In Salt Lake, some residents have organized backyard concerts, with small ticket charges to pay the artists.  After complaints ("A 23-year musical neighborhood tradition goes quiet on Kensington," Building Salt Lake) in one neighborhood ("Thinking about the opportunities for success with neighborhood commercial districts: comparing Manor Park in DC to 15th and 15th in Salt Lake," ) the city said it was illegal.  

Instead, the city should have figured out how to make it legal, with mitigation.

Washington State corner stores and cafes ("WA bill to build community through neighborhood cafes faces roadblock," Seattle Times).  There is an initiative to make zoning at the state level more amenable to corner store legalization to deal with third place issues.  But there's pushback.

FWIW, I learned a lot from a coffee shop in a strip center in West Seattle.  That you can have a cool space, even if the exterior is dull.  Buildings are envelopes.

-- "More thoughts on suburban hipness (it's really about commercial hipness generally, not urban vs. suburban)," 2013
-- "BTMFBA Chronicles: Seattle coffee shop raises money to buy its building," 2018

This came up in DC many years ago.  There are two problems.  You need a few thousand people to make the business work, and most neighborhoods don't have that kind of density.  Cost of property is expensive.  But there are some in DC still, more remnants of the previous era not new initiatives like Broad Branch Market and Mott's Market in Capitol Hill ("Revisiting Mott's Market corner store in Capitol Hill DC: residents buy the building after all," 2022).

Photo: "D.C.’s As You Are bar issues fundraising appeal to prevent closure," Washington Blade.

Gay bars as safe spaces.  I am really embarrassed that a few years ago I wrote about the decline of LGBTQ+ third places in terms of assimilation. 

 Obviously, Republican states are proving that it can be very difficult out there for people who seemingly are against "the norm"  ("House Republicans are adding dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ measures to must-pass bills," the 19th, "Republicans Are Winning Their War on LGBTQ Rights," The New Republic, "Don't take gay marriage for granted," Boston Globe, "Greg Abbott tells U.N. to 'go pound sand' over concerns about LGBTQ+ rights in Texas," San Antonio Current, "Voters ban Pride flags on city property in California beach town. ‘It sets a tone’ " Sacramento Bee).

 Safe spaces are needed ("The number of gay bars has dwindled. A new generation plans to bring them back," Washington Post).

The Post reports, "D.C.’s ‘queer living room’ was struggling. Then came $150K in donations," how one such bar facing closure on Capitol Hill raised over $150,000 to stay open.  From the article:

As You Are, a combination cafe and bar, has played a unique role for the queer community since it opened on a corner of Barracks Row in March 2022. Unlike many LGBTQ+ entertainment spaces, it focuses on more than just nightlife and emphasizes consent in all interactions. A downstairs area is set up as a coffee shop, with stacks of board games in a corner, while a bar and dance floor upstairs are used for events such as disco nights and karaoke. Some have described the establishment as a “queer living room” where everyone is not only welcome, but actively embraced. 

But the business has faced numerous financial challenges since its opening, including a delayed launch and a slow period last summer. Nearly two years in, Pike and their co-owner and spouse, Jo McDaniel, found themselves with roughly $150,000 of debt. They realized on Feb. 5 that they had to catch up on their tax payments to be eligible for D.C.-administered grants.

National Christian Church, Thomas Circle, Washington, DC.

... Pike and McDaniel said they asked their landlord to renegotiate their $27,000-per-month rent to be based on sales, but were denied. At one point, they said, their real estate company sent them the wrong account number for a wire transfer. They still have not gotten back $18,000 of the payment they made to that incorrect account, they said. 

Rueben Bajaj, their landlord, declined to discuss the details of his interactions with Pike and McDaniel but said his company has had “ongoing conversations” with them and “provided solutions.” Bajaj contributed $500 to the fundraiser because, he said, “I personally want to see As You Are succeed.”

The Washington Blade reports another bar will be opening in a couple months on 14th Street ("New gay bar on 14th Street to open in April").  From the article:

“This new venue, catering especially to the LGBTQ+ community, offers a cozy, inclusive space that reminisces about the times of record stores and basement hangouts with friends,” the statement says. “In its past life as a music store and radio supply shop, Crush transforms its legacy into a modern-day haven,” the statement continues. “It features top-notch DJ booths, a dance floor and a summer garden, alongside a premium sound system to ensure every night is memorable.”

Rutstein told the Washington Blade the new bar will have a capacity of accommodating 300 people on its two floors. He notes that the name ‘Crush” stems from the romantic crush that people often have for one another and his and Rutgers’ new bar is aimed at providing a friendly space for people to meet and socialize. 

“We’re looking to be inclusive to everyone,” Rutstein said. “It’s certainly going to be heavy on the LGBT community” because he and Rutgers have been part of that community for many years. But he added, “We want to be inclusive to gays and lesbians being able to bring their friends and allies in along with them and not feel weird about it.”

Photo: Under the Umbrella

Which reminds me that an LGBTQ+ book store opened in Salt Lake.  

Again, it's not about assimilation as much as it is that people need supports on that continuum of their journey/age cohort, etc. ("Why we love Under the Umbrella, Salt Lake City’s little queer bookstore," USA Today). From the article:

What’s your store’s story? 

Under the Umbrella Bookstore is your local queer bookstore. No other bookstore in the area specifically caters to the queer community, providing a safe space for queer folks of all ages to congregate and celebrate their stories. Under the Umbrella is meant to help bridge the gap between what Salt Lake City currently has and what the city needs by providing a safe, accessible, and inclusive space for everyone. Utah is predominantly white, which means there are even fewer places where the safety and comfort of queer people of color are prioritized.

And a sports bar ("The Locker Room: Salt Lake City's first gay sports bar," Salt Lake Tribune). 

The McDonald's inside Scarborough's Cedarbrae Mall will be closing at the end of February after 18 years. Andrew Francis Wallace Toronto Star.

Toronto: Closing of McDonalds stores in neighborhood shopping centers.  The Toronto Star writes, "When a neighbourhood mall McDonald's closes, more than food disappears,," about how the closure of McDonald's restaurants in area malls inadvertently reduces options for seniors  Some letter writers weigh in as well, "We need more community spaces geared to seniors."  From the article:

On the surface, it’s not sad news when a multibillion-dollar fast-food conglomerate closes a handful of locations (Scarborough is a culinary paradise, after all). But consider the role these spots located inside neighbourhood malls play in areas lacking places for people to gather, chat and evade freezing temperatures or the blazing sun. 

While I wait for my breakfast, two older men behind me shove coins into each other’s hands, refusing to let the other pay for their coffee. The cashier looks on in amusement, clearly having witnessed this routine before. 

That’s the charm of these neighbourhood malls, characterized by one or two anchor tenants – usually a department store, gym, supermarket or standalone fast-food joint – and non-chain retailers, as well as doctors’ and government offices. These malls aren’t destinations for luxury shopping, Instagram-friendly backdrops and ticketed “immersive experiences,” but rather they’re where local residents run errands and are able to hang out with friends for hours for the price of a $2 cup of coffee, a relatively low barrier in an increasingly unaffordable city.

... “(There were a lot of) seniors with their coffees sitting for hours,” he recalls, describing the scene at the now-defunct Eglinton Square McDonald’s. “It brings communities together like a coffee shop. It’s a reason to go out and come together when you didn’t have a lot of money. ... Whether you’re in high school or a senior, it’s the place to be. ... With Cedarbrae (Mall), Cedarbrae Collegiate (Institute) is right behind it, so thousands of kids over the years have been to that McDonald’s.”

New York City Puerto Rican neighborhood social club.   Last year in the food section, the New York Times ran a story on the perseverance of a Puerto Rican social club in the face of a changing neighborhood ("Her Social Club Isn’t Going Anywhere. Toñita Has No Plans to Quit.").

In a part of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that has been transformed in recent years by modern apartment buildings and fast-casual restaurants, a nondescript door on Grand Street is the entrance to Toñita’s, one of the last Puerto Rican outposts of its kind in New York City. 

Here, the customers drink $3 beers and play dominoes, or sit around and chat over free plates of food like arroz con gandules. The walls are crowded with Puerto Rican flags and portraits of the bar’s owner and matriarchal figure, 

Social clubs like Toñita’s are popular in Puerto Rico and Cuba. Photo: José A. Alvarado Jr. for The New York Times.

Maria Antonia Cay, who is more commonly known as Toñita. She opened the place in the 1970s as the Caribbean Social Club, a members-only hangout for the neighborhood baseball team. In 2000, she obtained a liquor license and opened the spot to everyone for cheap drinks and pots of Puerto Rican dishes that she makes in her apartment kitchen upstairs. (She bought the building decades ago.) “It reminds me of home,” said Djali Brown-Cepeda, an archivist and filmmaker who runs the Nuevayorkinos Instagram account. 

As neighborhoods like Williamsburg gentrify and businesses owned and frequented by people of color close, many of the people who grew up there fear they’ll lose the community outposts where they can speak Spanish, dance and play games. Ms. Cay said she has been offered millions of dollars for the building but will not sell.

Reading at the Astin Beer Company.

Silent book clubs.  Is a thing ("Silent Book Club gains traction in the Pittsburgh region," Pittsburgh Tribune).  From the article:

The rules of Silent Book Club are simple: No assigned reading, no homework and no small talk required. Members are expected to show up at a designated meeting place with whatever title they’re enjoying, sit and read. 

They can share thoughts if they want, but they don’t have to. The concept has revitalized the idea of joining a book club. It’s paradise for introverted readers and book vigilantes who don’t like the rules of traditional book clubs.

Civic assets as public facing opportunities for civic engagement and promotion of democracy.  Am working on this wrt the Park I'm on the board of in Salt Lake in terms of volunteerism and meeting opportunities, as well as a proposal to the City Library to create a combination Dallas Public Library Urban Information Center and technical assistance center, with training opportunities, showing webinars from publications like Chronicle of Philanthropy, etc.

-- "Community cleanups and other activities as community building and civic engagement activities," which is somewhat misnamed as it discusses various types of spaces," 2011
-- "The layering effect: how the building blocks of an integrated public realm set the stage for community building and Silver Spring, Maryland as an example," 2012

David Barth, AECOM

Creating places for social interaction/social bridges/triangulation.  There's an article, "‘Sticky’ places are urban planning lifelines Shared spaces build community and are key to alleviating America’s loneliness epidemic. Here’s how to create them.," in the Boston Globe about the design of spaces like parks in ways that foster interaction and connection.  From the article:

Connelly leaned on a newly purchased volleyball net, a ball, and a powerful resource: the public park. Public spaces, which served as a lifeline for people during the pandemic, can be more thoughtfully designed to better foster human connection and combat loneliness. 

After corralling friends for a casual volleyball game, Connelly headed to a grassy spot in Lincoln Park, across the street from her apartment in Somerville. Several passersby, observing the group’s overhand serves and obvious camaraderie, asked to join the game. As Connelly, her friends, and their soon-to-be friends cleaned up the net after playing, they started a group chat to coordinate play times, resulting in what is now a group of more than 500 community members, and growing, who get together almost daily to socialize and play volleyball. 

... As an urban designer advocating for more sustainable, livable, and equitable cities, I hear communities express the need for sticky public spaces daily. To create them, I work with people across Greater Boston to transform unused storefronts into temporary vibrant social infrastructure, like community pop-ups that host regular events and serve as communal living rooms. 

These spaces make people feel welcome, represented, and connected to their neighborhoods, and this, in turn, builds social connections between visitors. Though the Lincoln Park volleyball group formed organically, it was no accident. The park was designed to spur the interactions that allowed the spontaneous group to grow. In 2018, the City of Somerville renovated the park, turning it from baseball fields into a lively space with a skate park, parkour area, basketball court, multiple playgrounds, hammock poles, a community garden, and much more. 

In the park’s redesign, these areas flow into one another — for example, the central path cuts through the skate park — creating connections between uses and users. 

 ... The park is also well integrated into the dense neighborhood of multifamily homes that surrounds it. On streets that dead-end at the park, the sidewalks continue without gates or other barriers. This confluence of environmental and programmatic design creates a park that is sticky. 

 ... Social infrastructure, like physical infrastructure, requires upkeep, investment, and adaptation. All communities deserve to have local public spaces that are designed to be sticky. Just as cities determine which roads and bridges need repair, so should they assess where their social infrastructure is lacking. 

City leaders can start by asking community members to finish the sentence “I wish I had a place to . . . " They can then take what they hear and use whatever space is available — an extra room in a library, a disused municipal building, even a parking lot — to create that place.

-- CultureHouse,  

National Library Week, April 23-29

Many years I write an omnibus piece covering a bunch of issues, including library architectural and programmatic design, and what we might call current affairs.

The two biggest issues these days are:

1.  Campaigns all across the US, in conservative areas, to ban books. It's mostly in the schools, but also in public libraries ("Why Americans must unite against the organized effort to ban library books," Nashville Tennessean, "History of Book Bans in the U.S.," National Geographic), "Book bans in US public schools increase by 28% in six months, Pen report finds," Guardian).

This has led to some defunding of libraries in Michigan ("s") and Missouri ("Missouri libraries dodge GOP funding strike — for now," Kansas City Beacon). And probably elsewhere.

Toronto Public Library has a display of books increasingly banned in the US.  

The Brooklyn Public Library will provide a library card to anyone in the US, to evade censorship bans.

2.  Funding.  Besides punitive funding cuts in support of book banning, libraries always have to worry about funding.

For example, New York City, which has just opened up a bunch of new library facilities ("A Love Letter to Libraries, Long Overdue," New York Times) is proposing budget cuts that could lead to weekend closures ("NYC Budget Would Close Libraries On Weekends While Police Get Huge Bonuses," Vice). 

This is tragic considering how libraries (and parks) are the primary civic assets in a community that are public facing (schools too, but only for those people who have families), and key "social infrastructure" elements ("Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets").

Last year, I wrote about the new Granite Library in the Salt Lake County system ("New Granite Library, Salt Lake County Public Library System").  

Sadly I had a prior commitment, otherwise I would have gone to the presentation on making naan.

Granite has some "unique" features like outdoor playground and amphitheater, an expanded maker space, and an exhibition teaching kitchen.

But it made me think, along with some other public facilities in Salt Lake City proper, about how even well designed public buildings can fail when it comes to connecting to the spaces around it, whether or no there is an interest in promoting local economic development and commercial district improvement, etc.  I still have to figure all that out for a blog post.

I also wrote about the Friends of the Salt Lake Library, which is a master group covering all branches.  I think they are pretty remarkable ("Outdoor library book sale as an opportunity for "social bridging"/triangulation").

Salt Lake County and City have separate library systems, and they do a lot of great things in terms of innovative programming, both in terms of what libraries offer, and their programs.

Last week, the Salt Lake Performance Art Festival took place at the main library, with many of the performances in the arcade, which they call the "Urban Room."

Salt Lake County doesn't really have a main library the way Salt Lake City does, and I think the SLC main library is one of the best in the US, but sadly covid has affected it.  The library had a lot of co-located cultural functions and cafes, and they seem to be on the decline, as many have closed.

The County's Viridian Events Center isn't a main branch per se, but it is a conference center and outdoor amphitheater, and while it is rentable, it's also well programmed by their own events, like dances.

Even so, careful observation shows that the Salt Lake City and County libraries can still improve.  

One such area is in displaying civic information.  Both systems have public displays for flyers on events and sometimes the happenings of the respective local governments.  But that could be more systematic.  I think that libraries should have "kiosks" on government happenings--minutes, etc.

The Toronto Public Library has launched a new collection featuring books banned, challenged or censored across North America.

 

-- "It’s never been more important to protect the right to read," Toronto Star

New Granite Library, Salt Lake County Public Library System

It's time for an update to my post, "Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets."  But this isn't it.

=====

Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County have separate library systems, although each library is open to the patrons of the other.  So double the libraries.

Salt Lake City's libraries are distinctive because they have a lot of elements that add value.  They've thought through things in a manner that most library systems have not, even touted systems like DC and Seattle.

For example, all the libraries have large meeting rooms.  Each of the rooms is outfitted with a piano.  Every library has a children's section, which includes a slop sink.  The libraries have maker spaces and other dedicated spaces.  The Marmalade branch has a coffee shop (poorly designed so it hasn't really worked) and the meeting room, outfitted with stadium style seating, is set up so that it can be securely open separate from when the library is closed. And the main branch is superb ("The Salt Lake City Central Library is Incredible,"2013).

Salt Lake County is a leader in terms of developing co-located functions as part of community facilities.  For example, the Millcreek Community Center includes a library, recreation center and senior center, and the food service for seniors is positioned as a cafe open to the public, plus it abuts a small park.

The Viridian Center library complex includes very large meeting rooms capable of holding a few hundred people each and can be joined together and an outdoor amphitheater.  And the Sorenson Community Center, with recreation facilities, in Salt Lake City, has a number of community serving functions, including a social services oriented dental clinic, as it is located on the city's west side, which is less well off economically.  

Oh, and interestingly, the County provides recreation centers throughout the county.  Even in incorporated cities like Salt Lake City the recreation centers are run by the county.

Granite Library is the newest county library and it replaces and expands two smaller library facilities that were nearby.  It has a lot of meaning to the community, because it's on the site of the old Granite High School, which despite efforts to retain the building, did not come to fruition ("District approves $2.5 million demolition of Granite High School," Salt Lake Tribune). 

SLT photo by Al Hartmann.

The school district sold the land, but the County and City of South Salt Lake, after a lot of effort, were able to get the developer to sell them back part of the site, for a community facility because there was a strong sense that the site should continue to have a public purpose.

And they built this library ("At new Granite Library, Utah's past and present meets," SLT).  

And while it isn't quite set up with co-located functions in the same way as some of others, it does have exemplary examples of multi-purpose elements on site.  

The "front yard" of the building includes a picnic area (needs some shade trees), a children's playground with exercise equipment, and a pergola-style amphitheater.  Public art is also placed on site, and the building materials are of exceptional quality.  The grass is a specially selected blend that uses small amounts of water.

And adjacent to the picnic area there are accessible commercial electricity connections so food trucks can hook up and operate a lot more quietly.

The City of South Salt Lake is big on installing exercise equipment in their parks, and they have two multipurpose community centers that I intend to write about later.  I presume that helped bring about the exercise playground to this site.

Inside, the library has a great maker space, including a "green screen room" for video work, and the large meeting room has a first that I've seen, a demonstration kitchen.  

There are children's and teen spaces, smaller meeting rooms, and other functions. Computers of course.

But the green screen room and kitchen facilities definitely stand out.

Salt Lake City and County libraries tend to have way better periodical collections than DC's branch libraries, and the Granite Library is no exception.

The small meeting rooms incorporate large scale photos of memorable moments from Granite High School.  And there is a display case with ephemera and other memorabilia from the old High School as well.