The Barbican Library is a public library with an interesting history just outside their walls. Well before the library was established the area was ruled by Romans and known as Londinium. Pieces of the walls that used to surround Londinium are partially standing and can be see from above within a short walking distance from the library's doors. These partial walls still stand despite their origination dating back to approximately 43 AD . Fast forwarding a bit to 1940s, the grounds where the library current stands and all around it were completely devastated by German bombings that took place during WWII. Though Germany was aiming to destroy St. Paul's Cathedral to destroy the British spirit during the war, they missed frequently and instead the area in which the Barbican now stands was demolished to rubble. But, from the turmoil the Barbican Library emerged during post-war England. The building was approved for construction in 1954 with the library opening its doors in 1959. The center features a lot of concrete in its design, but there were so many beautiful flowers, greenery, and water features in the center area to bring the area to life against the dull grey concrete.
(Slide left for photos)
Upon our arrival to the library the principle librarian (head librarian as we call them) noted the difficulty in finding your way to the library as it is quite tucked away in the middle of the center. Without our professors knowledge of finding the library I'm not sure I would have been able to find it on my own! Once we got into the center we had to follow a thin, yellow line from the entrance to the doors of the library. The concrete maze would have been impossible to navigate without the little yellow concrete line. Feeling much like we were following the yellow brick road, the yellow line led us to the library -- which might just be better than Kansas.
The inside of the library was typical to any public library that I've been familiar with, including multipurpose spaces, technology, books and other resources available for the public use, and of course, little funding for their amazing staff and services. For me, the most interesting part of our tour was the children's section in the library. This part of the library felt like walking into another world, a world of childhood and organized chaos. One of the librarians from the children's section spoke to us about all of the amazing programs that they have for the kids in the surrounding area. They have programs and services for children from birth - 14 years old. They provide basically any type of group for kids that you could imagine, including, games, music, art, puzzle, books, craft, etc. Tucked away in the back of the library this space was a lovely sanctuary for young, developing minds. This library made me want to drop what I'm doing and start working on a degree that could get me into public librarianship for a children's section-- stay tuned as I decide to be a different kind of librarian with each new library I encounter.
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