http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/22/the-always-ugly-beacon-hill-branch-library-part-iii Comments On: The Always Ugly Beacon Hill Branch Library: Part III by Charles Mudede en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Sat, 25 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sat, 25 May 2013 04:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
But I guess being deliberately contrarian gives Mudede a stiffy.
Posted by KingofQueenAnne]]> Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:17:24 -0800 The Stranger Posted by I have always been... east coaster]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 18:58:50 -0800 The Stranger You sound like a dipstick. A dipstick with FirstWorldProblems.
Posted by Up all night]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:49:23 -0800 The Stranger
when i look at the library, i sometimes envision that they had planted taller, leafier trees which would eventually envelope the main floor. i see it in the future as a sea of green leaves, undulating in the wind, while the vaulted glass portion rises out of it like a wave. at least that engages my eye more. however, nothing can save that awful boat/bird/blimp/whimsical paperweight of a sculpture.
Posted by Oh no]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:49:44 -0800 The Stranger Posted by mike in oly]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:28:38 -0800 The Stranger
"You will not a find a position that's kind to this building. . . "
- all 3 pictures you posted (albeit poorly taken, poorly composed pictures) show the building to be fairly nice to a little extravagant and none are un-kind to the building. and there is one position that is über-kind to the building:: the inside, filled with people creating community and enjoying their cities resources. ultra-fail on your part for not noticing it, not participating in it and de-facto denigrating it.

"And the ugliness of the intention is expressed by the ugliness and messiness [of charles' twisted, twisted philosophical/political beliefs that make him the better human in all situations even those that contradict his earlier positions.]"

tl;dr = fuck off already, charles.

Posted by you got chuck trolled]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:31:12 -0800 The Stranger Posted by floater]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:16:27 -0800 The Stranger Posted by very bad homo]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:11:32 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Rotten666]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:01:36 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Rotten666]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:56:53 -0800 The Stranger
The last time I was in a library was when I was taking tutoring lessons in Spanish. I met my tutor in the Kent Central Library and we did our lessons on the main table area. We spoke in conversational voices and no one said anything about it.

Also I normally go weekly to the Covington branch ( a fantastic and beautiful library with a "Great Room" for reading and studying -- but which does not ban talk -- to read scientific journals. But I haven't been there for a while.

By information kiosk, I mean a place to go and interactively search for information and also t participate in information activities like tutoring. It does have books. But I think more people space would be more useful than just stacks since, again, you can request those online.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:51:14 -0800 The Stranger Posted by And By Book Worm, I Mean My Penis]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:31:17 -0800 The Stranger
Posted by ExitOnly]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:13:21 -0800 The Stranger
The downtown library is a bigger shame to me though. It reminds me of NYU's ginormous library; the ginormous library that, even just ten years ago, was running out of space in the stacks because almost all of the actual real estate was taken up by the building's ginormous atrium.
Posted by keshmeshi]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:13:11 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Man_in_the_mirror]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:04:43 -0800 The Stranger Posted by pfffter]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:54:01 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Max Solomon]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:53:55 -0800 The Stranger Posted by samktg]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:44:18 -0800 The Stranger Posted by beatgrl]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:42:06 -0800 The Stranger Posted by fletc3her]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:35:23 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Rotten666]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:29:42 -0800 The Stranger
[Some people still read books].
Posted by Sean Kinney]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:20:04 -0800 The Stranger Maybe it goes deeper than that.

What are libraries any more?

Newer ones don't store books...why bother? You can go on a computer and read, or order a book from the central warehouse and have it delivered.

Why use all this space storing books that will only be used once a year by one person. Space that is on valuable high rent land!

What the library has become is a self serve enclosed information kiosk. It has meeting rooms. It has atriums where people can talk out loud. It has play areas where kids can scream. Yet, in order to justify it's existence it has to "symbolize" a Library. In order for people to pay for such a fun place, it has to have Purpose.

Aren't we all Libraries. Aren't we doing all this Old Stuff to justify our existence in the face of the 20th century people, but what we really are going is 21st century activities?

We work at Microsoft and Boeing, to make money, so we can come home and use Facebook and YouTube.


Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:15:09 -0800 The Stranger Posted by drawn]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:11:38 -0800 The Stranger Posted by BostonFontSnob]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:09:26 -0800 The Stranger