ATHENS PUBLIC LIBRARY: AN ANTIDOTE TO STERILE, MODERN PUBLIC SPACES
BY OLIVIA LEGGANS PHOTO COURTESY OF OLIVIA LEGGANS
As schools and libraries opt for smooth, sterile design choices and tout their functional adaptability, public spaces feel more like hospitals than inviting, collaborative spaces. All furniture is on wheels and convertible in some way. Nearly every piece is made of plastic or metal for durability. These spaces are technically open and let in tons of natural light, but they feel more removed from nature than ever before. The Athens Public Library is exactly the opposite of this.
Cushy leather couches sit on mauve and gray patterned carpet from the ‘80s. Visitors of all ages play with chessboards and puzzles at old wooden tables. Six-foot-tall plants and colorful, handmade art projects decorate the building. The Athens branch is exactly what I remember libraries being as a kid: welcoming, colorful, and cozy.
Past the rows and rows of books, there is a rotunda that overlooks a neighborhood and a disc golf course. The rotunda is lined with windows and littered with plants. The space is ideal for studying or reading, but cozy, nonetheless. It is everything modern educational spaces are not.
Their stacks may not run as deep as Alden Library’s academia-oriented catalog, but the Athens branch reminds me that, at one point, I enjoyed reading. From literary classics and romance to cookbooks and woodworking how-to books, the Athens Public Library stocks books that are actually read, used, and enjoyed widely. DVDs, audiobooks, and free access to online book services, like Hoopla and Libby, are added perks.
Collaboration at the Athens Public Library does not end with the physical layout and homey aesthetics. What truly makes a library or any public institution succeed — obviously, other than adequate funding — is its staff. Again, the Athens branch is no different. There are librarians who go down rabbit holes with you just to find the right database, form, or book recommendation. Some also lead family story time and adult book clubs.
Expansive, sterile, and optimized designs in public institutions are intended to adapt to different learning settings, facilitate collaboration, and endure everyday use from students and the public. However, they do the opposite in practice. Manufactured pops of color or “natural” shapes meant to emulate nature do little to soften a sleek and sterile brutalist atmosphere. Comfortable public spaces cannot be fabricated by mimicking art, color, or the outdoors. Public institutions build these spaces by inviting people in, providing opportunities for adults and children to make and share art, and truly foster their communities.
Rather than investing time and resources back into collaborating with their communities, most public institutions decided to jump on the productivity bandwagon that floods the American workforce. If institutions moved away from the idea that office-like productivity directly equals growth and learning, they would not have to rely on glass garage doors and brightly colored chairs on wheels to convince people to collaborate.
Real education and growth come from collaboration and communities. Libraries and other public institutions are some of the last spaces that offer free, untargeted, and unbiased resources to learn, grow, and get support. For some, libraries are just buildings that lend books for free, but for others, libraries inform upbringings, serve as oases, and glue communities together; as a result, protecting them is vital.
