reach for the greater public. Google, too, has realized
the potential of libraries for tech-focused training. The
company has teamed up with the American Library
Association to launch Libraries Ready to Code, a website
that teaches coding and computational thinking to
youth. The web giant also recently donated US$1 million
to the association to help local libraries deliver digital-
skills training – based on new technology – to their
respective communities. The library’s traditional role is
still valuable, too, as evidenced by research in Zimbabwe
that found the promotion of public library services there
helped to improve reading and writing among children
and adults. As a result, the country has one of the highest
literacy rates in Africa. Illiteracy isn’t detrimental to only
the individuals in question either. A 2015 report from
the World Literacy Foundation estimated the costs of
illiteracy to the global economy at US$1.2 trillion.
Like Oodi, Calgary’s new Central Library by
Snøhetta and Dialog was shaped in part by local input.
The project is the Canadian city’s largest public invest-
ment since the 1988 Olympics, and there are big plans
for its role in the community. Over half of the city’s
population actively uses the library system already – it’scommended for connecting residents from all walks of
life – and there are hopes that the building’s expansion
will draw in twice as many visitors annually. Taking cues
from today’s offices and co-working environments, the
library caters for various activities, shifting from livelier
public spaces on the lower levels to quiet study areas
above. (LocHal in the Dutch city of Tilburg, on the other
hand, actually combines a library with offices for two
cultural organizations and a series of Seats2Meet co-
working spaces. The project involved Mecanoo (interior
design), Inside Outside (interior concept), Civic (archi-
tect) and Braaksma & Roos Architectenbureau (restora-
tion architect)).
Back in Calgary, the intention to consolidate
the local community is evident in the Living Room
(the go-to term in contemporary libraries?). From here,
visitors overlook the new entry plaza that knits together
two once-divided neighbourhoods, while doubling as a
warm invitation for passers-by to step inside. Snøhetta
and Dialog further enhanced the connection between
indoors and out with a string of multipurpose rooms
that wrap the building’s perimeter. This strategy – a
visually porous boundary that lures the outside world »LOCHAL, TILBURG
Providing a range of different environments for socializing, collaborating and
concentrating, LocHal is described as a ‘new living room’ for the Dutch city of Tilburg.
The project includes a number of ‘laboratories’ that introduce the public to the latest
innovations in the likes of food, gaming and digital technology.
lochal.nl
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