Salt Lake City Public Library

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The main branch building of Salt Lake City Public Library is a unique architectural structure in Salt Lake City, Utah. Located at 210 East, 400 South, opposite Salt Lake City and County Building and Washington Square.

Video Salt Lake City Public Library

History

The Salt Lake City Public Library was originally housed in Salt Lake City and County Building in 1898. Thanks to donations of land and money by John Quackenbos Packard in 1900, a new library was built in downtown Salt Lake City; this building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This library remained in use until the building was first in the early 1960s. The city library was then moved to a new home across from the City and County Building at the 500 South and 200 East intersections. The first stone-laying ceremony was held on December 28, 1962, and the building was devoted on October 30, 1964. In 1965, the old library was renovated to the Hansen Planetarium, funded by a $ 400,000 donation from Beatrice M. Hansen.

1994 hostage event

On March 7, 1994, a gunman took several hostages in a conference room on the second floor of the old main building. The library was evacuated and the SWAT team was called in a six-hour siege, ending with the gunman's death and freeing the hostages.

Move to current location

After celebrating the library's 100th anniversary in early 1998, a $ 84 million library bond was approved to relocate the library in a new building, a block north of the block halfway, to its current location. The company Moshe Safdie and Associates is partnering with a local architectural firm, VCBO Architecture to design the building, which opened to the public on February 8, 2003. The former building is now Leonardo's museum.

On September 15, 2006, a small bomb exploded on the third floor of the main building. No one was hurt, and the damage suffered by the building was a broken window. The traffic headed east on the streets of 400 South and 200 East was closed while 400 people were forced to flee.

Suicide and attempt suicide

There have been several cases of public suicide in the library since his transfer. In April 2008, a woman jumped from a third floor balcony in the library and died.

In July 2005, a woman jumped from the roof of the building to her death. In March 2011, a woman jumped from the fourth floor inside the building and died. In April 2012, a man jumped from the balcony inside the library to his death.

On June 10, 2013, at about 4 pm, a 21-year-old man jumped to his death from the roof, prompting the closure of the library for the rest of the day.

On November 13, 2013, at around 16:15, a 21-year-old man watched as he jumped off the roof of the building. The man survived the fall and was taken to the LDS Hospital because of the wound. The event encouraged the closing of the library for the rest of the day.

Maps Salt Lake City Public Library

Features

The main Salt Lake City library is 240,000 square feet (22,000 m ²) and is a five-story wedge-shaped building. The library has a collection of over 500,000 books and subscriptions to over 60 newspapers and magazines and 163 internet-enabled computers.

This structure includes 44,960 cubic meters (34,370 m ³) of concrete and 176,368 square feet (16,385.1 m ²) of glass. One feature is a five-storey curved glass wall. Designed by the same architect, the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library Center has a very similar design. This is clearly visible in the main foyer and the sweeping outer facade.

Outside the library there is the Library Square, the square and the main square. Initially, most of what is now a beautiful open space are the buildings, but Mayor Rocky Anderson asks this to be abandoned and create a public park. There are several shops in the square and studios of KCPW-FM radio stations. The Square Library is paved with limestone from Israel.

Upon entering the five-storey building, one enters "Urban Space", which has the same limestone as the square. The room is elongated for all five floors and ends with a 20,000 square foot skylight (1,900 m ²). More shops lined up on one side of Urban Space.

The roof garden completes its structure. It is grown with trees, grasses, flowering bulbs and various annual crops.

All libraries rely on natural lighting, reducing the need for lights in the library. The large five-storey glass wall is where most of the light comes from.

Other features of the library include:

The fireplace is located on four floors and is designed to resemble a fire column viewed from 200 East and 400 South.
"Lens" on the south side of the building that helps warm buildings during the winter, saves heating costs.
Art gallery featuring works by local artists.
Coffee Shop with a "private ladder" that gives direct access to the Young Adult Section.
Children's library.
A large "spiral" staircase and three glass elevators.
One of the largest collections of graphic novels, if not the largest, in public libraries. This is due in part to Night Flight Comics previously located in Library Square and making many donations.
A collection of zines, which have about 1,500 zines, 15 subscriptions, and a number of reference books.
The library has also won Library library in 2006 from this year's awards.