Library in the English city of Westbury. The smallest library in the world. Public bookcase

Despite the rapid development of various technologies and the progressive age, reading books will never lose its relevance. This is confirmed by the works of libraries, the number and formats of which amaze the average reader. Today Special attention I would like to focus on the smallest, but no less popular libraries in the world.

The smallest library in the world

It seems that small libraries include those in rural areas where books are housed in one or two rooms. But a library in a small UK town is breaking all records. The fact is that it is located in an ordinary telephone booth. Of course, only one person at a time can visit this room, but it is also noteworthy that, given the small number of local residents (800 people), there is a constant queue at the library.

It’s worth starting with the fact that today ordinary telephone booths are no longer relevant, as mobile communications are flourishing. It turns out that such booths are idle, and their owner, British Telecom, is ready to rent them out and sell them for a ridiculous price. One of these red booths attracted the attention of local residents, who converted it into a small library. To do this, shelves were installed inside and not only various books were placed, but also DVDs. Here you can find classic literature, cookbooks and world bestsellers.

There are no employees in the “telephone” library, and everything is based on self-service and the consciousness of people. The library's assortment is constantly updated with home books from citizens. Even in the evening you can take a book, since the booth is equipped with lighting. As for the work schedule, books are available to readers all year round, without weekends or holidays.

Public bookcase

Small libraries of this kind have become quite common in many countries. People call them public bookcases. The very first of them appeared in the early 90s. Initially they were located in Graz (Austria), and later began to meet in both Hamburk and Mainz (Germany). The supporters of this idea were artists who equipped libraries on their own.

Inspiration to create accessible books prompted the founding of open library and in Hanover, which marked the beginning of the spread of “bookcases” throughout Europe.

Special purpose

Based on the name, it becomes clear that such libraries have one goal - to give anyone the opportunity to read a book. But, besides this, save old, unnecessary household books, which are often thrown away as unnecessary, burned or gathering dust for years in the attic. Thus, a person can donate his books to the library, thereby replenishing its assortment. By the way, no one ever controls the time for which a book is borrowed. If desired, you can take it away for good, as long as it fulfills its purpose.

More recently, in 2017, it immediately became a point of attraction for millions of people from all over the world. Which, of course, is not surprising - the Binhai Library can rightfully be called a unique work of modern architecture.

The building has a spherical shape, from the inside it is filled to the ceiling with wavy, overlapping bookshelves.

The library's five floors include a variety of reading rooms, lounge areas, offices, and even a terrace for entertaining in warm weather. The storage facilities can accommodate more than one million books.

The huge ball of the central hall of the library is softly illuminated at night, as if calling on the citizens and guests of Tianjin not to forget about the fascinating world of books. Thionville, France. This media library could form the basis of future models for urban spaces. The authors of the project, bureau Dominique coulon & associations, brought to life the idea of ​​​​creating a space in which visitors become both participants and

actors

. The building housed not only traditional book rooms, but also media areas, exhibition spaces, music studios, and a cafe. A variety of activities creates a continuous dynamics of space. In addition, the media library has new models of spaces - the so-called “bubbles”, which house more intimate areas - language classrooms, places for games, rooms for reading aloud, etc. They are like cocoons in which you can feel more private.

This brutalist constructivist glass and concrete "Tree of Knowledge" was built in the 1970s and designed by William Pereiro. The image turned out to be very outstanding and recognizable, so the library immediately became the emblem of the University of California. The eight-story building contains several million volumes scientific books, as well as spaces for activities and creativity.

Also noteworthy is the entrance area of ​​the library, designed by conceptual artist John Baldessari. The installation features images of students above stacks of books. On top of the entrance doors there is an inscription: “Read/Write/Think/Dream.” When the doors slide apart, their multi-colored glass joins together, creating original color effects.

Medellin, Colombia.

The buildings, built in 2007 according to the design of the architect Giancarlo Mazzanti, are located on the top of the mountain. The three megalith buildings look like either an alien base or Stonehenge... These three “granites of science,” in addition to reading rooms and book depositories, housed cultural centers and modern interactive systems. You can get to the library in a rather unusual way - by cable car. The construction of such a modern and unique complex marked the beginning of the transformation of the city of Medellin, which in the early 2000s was considered one of the most dangerous in Colombia.

Liyuan, China.

The architects of the Li Xiaodong Atelier bureau created an amazing space in the village of Huairou in 2011, harmoniously blending into the natural environment and emphasizing unity with it. The library's facade is decorated with twigs from trees that local residents collect from the surrounding area and use as fuel, and the new use of such an eco-friendly material as cladding was an excellent solution.

The interior space of Liyuan Library is attractive and cozy: several levels without tables and chairs, bookshelves, steps - everything speaks of the hilly area in which the library is built.

The building is completely glazed, and this provides a lot of much-needed natural light (there is no electricity in the library), as well as visual space, despite the very small area.

Berlin, Germany. The library opened its doors in September 2005 and became an addition to the existing building humanitarian institute

The library's five floors are wrapped in glazed aluminum panels and supported by a steel radial frame. The building has natural ventilation - the supply of fresh air is controlled by a computer, and the heating system uses heat from heated surfaces. The translucent inner membrane has daylight filters. Inside the library, its own favorable microclimate is created, which helps preserve the book collections and, of course, the health of readers.

Vienna, Austria.

She designed the futuristic building and her unique style is immediately noticeable: flexible lines, smooth shapes and flowing transitions from one space to another. Having opened its doors in 2013, the library became not only the dominant feature of the campus, but also a new architectural center of attraction for tourists.

The LLC building consists of two volumes with contrasting facades clad in fiber-reinforced concrete. In the upper block, black, with a dynamic console, there is a library, the highlight of which is a reading room with a huge window. The lower part of the building is separated from the upper by a continuous glazed strip and covered with light-colored panels. There are spaces inside for various activities, function rooms, graduate career center, bookstore and much more. The library is equipped with the latest technology, and in good weather students can even study outside.

Geelong, Australia.

The authors of the project, bureau ARM Architecture, tried to follow three main ideas: firstly, it was necessary to pay tribute to the surrounding historical buildings that have the status of objects cultural heritage and create a building that would not be radically out of context, secondly, to design a spectacular and modern space that meets the requirements not only of today, but also of tomorrow, and thirdly, to develop an organic structure that is in harmony with natural environment. Thus, a unique spherical structure was born, reminiscent of a cave with stalactites.

The glazed wall reflects the nearby park area and thus the building visually merges with nature. On the eight floors of the library, in addition to library premises, there are cafes, exhibition spaces and an archive.

New York, USA. The smallest libraries in the world appeared in 2013 on the streets of New York - they can only accommodate one reader and about 40 books. Target city ​​hall and bright yellow structures - to give residents the opportunity to take a break from the frantic pace of life in the metropolis, to restore interest in paper books and read them for free. The principle of operation is that anyone can borrow a book for a few days or exchange it for another. Restocking books on shelves is welcome, but vandalism or theft is not. Ten small LIttle Free Library pavilions were designed by different designers, using recycled materials, and installed in different locations in Manhattan.

Note that the idea of ​​little free libraries has spread throughout the world. They have appeared in converted telephone booths, bus stops and even on public transport.

Nice, France.

The world's first "inhabited sculpture", created in 2002, is one of the buildings of the Louis Nucer library. The authors of the idea, Yves Bayard and Francis Chapu, designed a unique head, which instantly became one of the landmarks of Nice.

Unfortunately, ordinary visitors do not have access to the “brain” - the statue houses the administration premises of the library, located in a neighboring building with more traditional architecture.

The article was prepared by Natalya Ledeneva for the website
based on materials: wikipedia.org, flickr.com, arch2o.com and other open sources

- a movement that is becoming more and more popular in the world every year. The idea of ​​exchanging books read, leaving them in in public places, originated in 2001, and since then its fans have been growing. But in 2009, an equally commendable initiative arose - to create entire mini-libraries in which anyone could choose a book to their liking.

Little ones free libraries(Little Free Library) is a new non-profit project aimed, first of all, at ensuring that people not only enrich their inner world through reading books, but also found friends and like-minded people with whom they could discuss what they had read. A Little Free Library is nothing more than a small shelf of books that anyone can install in the yard of their home. The rule for using such book depositories is very simple: take a book, don’t forget to put another one in its place. Thus, the “contents” of the library are constantly updated. By the way, a similar principle is also typical for street libraries, into which the British converted many (we recently told readers of the site Culturology.ru about this).

The idea to create such non-standard libraries came to the minds of the Americans Todd Ball and Rick Brooks. On the one hand, this helps to increase literacy among readers and expand their horizons; on the other hand, it brings users closer together. In addition, many people are creative in creating mini-libraries, so that they are gradually becoming a real decoration of cities. Every year there are more and more small free libraries: in 2011, 100 were registered, today there are already more than 6,000 around the world, and it is planned that by the end of the year there will be at least 25,000. Owners of such libraries can register them on the Internet to it was easier for potential readers to find books.

Little Free Libraries are, of course, not the only projects that feature quirky collections of books. On our website we have already talked about other funny book depositories. Like, oh, oh

(estimates: 2 , average: 3,00 out of 5)

1. The oldest working library is located in the Monastery of St. Catherine on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It was built in the mid-6th century, also becoming the second largest collection of religious materials in the world (after the Vatican). It is closed to the general public, and only monks and invited students can borrow books from it.

The Bibliothèque Nationale de France is the oldest existing public library service. It began its work in 1368, when it was still located in the Louvre. Over the past almost 700 years, the library has moved many times to new and larger premises.

2. The most a big library in the world is the Library of Congress, which houses 158 million titles on approximately 828 miles of bookshelves (1 mile = 1.6 km - approx.Lifebooks). The library's collections include more than 36 million books and other printed materials, 3.5 million records, 13.7 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 6.7 million sheets of music, and 69 million manuscripts.

3. The smallest libraries in the world appeared on the streets of New York - they have room for just one reader. One bright yellow building houses 40 books. Their goal is to help city residents take a break from the frantic pace of life in the metropolis by giving them the opportunity to read for free good stories. The Little Free Library was designed by several innovative architects using recycled materials to protect the books from the elements.

4. The tallest library in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is located on the 60th floor of the JW Marriott Hotel in Shanghai (China). It is located at an altitude of 230.9 meters above the street. The 103 bookshelves house an ever-expanding collection of Chinese and English books. By the way, the library area is not that big - only 57 square meters.

5. The very first librarian was Zenodotus from Ephesus. He was a Greek literary critic, grammarian, and commentator on Homer. He, a student of Philetus of Kos, became the first librarian of the Library of Alexandria.

6. The first library classification system was invented during the Han Empire. However, in North America It is believed that personal collections of books came to the continent thanks to French settlers of the 16th century.

7. The first mobile library, according to the British monthly The British Workman, appeared in 1857. At this time she traveled around a circle of eight villages in Cumbria. Victorian merchant and philanthropist, George Moore, created the project with the aim of "spreading good literature among rural population" The Warrington Traveling Library, established in 1858, was another early British traveling library.

8. The Bible is most likely stolen, followed by the Guinness Book of Records.

9. The first floating library appeared in 1959. To “launch” this project, it was necessary to use a number of ships. The custom-made special vessel entered service in 1963. Its length is 24 meters. Today the ship is used for summer tourist cruises.

Based on materials from libraryoutsourcing.com

Symbols of Great Britain

In 2007, a survey was conducted among British residents on the topic - which national symbols of their country are most popular throughout the world and are associated with the old good England. The British, without hesitation, answered that the main place in this hit parade should be taken by the red telephone booth! In the minds of the residents of Foggy Albion, this everyday attribute has become a kind of icon, evidence of the successes of Great Britain from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries.

It stands on par with such well-known symbols of the country as buses and mailboxes, also painted red.

Unfortunately, red telephone booths are becoming a relic of the past and are on the verge of disappearing completely. IN modern world It is much easier and more convenient for people to use cellular communications. Just five years ago there were more than 150 thousand of them, but now there are only 13 thousand. To save some of this relic, the Lord Mayor of London, as well as architects and historians, have worked to have the 2,500 boxes listed as protected monuments.

Some of the rest of the booths are falling into the hands of resourceful people in England for just £1, thanks to the telecom operator British Telecom. The British use them to make showers, storage rooms, and art displays.

From the booth to the library

Residents of the small town of Westbury sub-Mandip also contributed to the preservation of this attribute. They came up with an interesting idea - to convert a telephone booth into a library. The British quickly turned their fantasy into reality by installing shelves and lighting in the booth for night visitors. Then, most of the town's residents brought books of various genres and DVDs from their homes. The result is the smallest library in the whole world, which, nevertheless, contains more than a hundred different topics: from cooking to the classics.

Since the library is a public library, all visitors are their own librarians. They regularly replenish the rows of books and if they take something to read, they then return it to its place. You can come here at any time of the day, regardless of weekdays or weekends, the library is open all year round, day and night.

Popular place for residents

Westbury-sub-Mandip is the smallest English town, home to about 800 residents, and since the library has become an extremely beloved and popular place for people to visit, there is often a long queue to get to it.

Enterprising Englishmen found a way to perpetuate something so dear to them national symbol, thereby giving the red telephone booth a second life and even greater popularity than in the old days.