The Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) , a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) honored the winners of the 2014 Library Interior Design Awards at ALA’s annual conference held in Las Vegas in June. Over 200 entries were reviewed, and many of this year’s 19 winners have a vibrant and functional design that takes into consideration that libraries are more than ever a gathering space for their community.

Top row: Midland Centennial Library, TX; Central Library, Bottom row, l.-r.: St. Louis Public Library, Glenmore Christian Academy Elemantray Library, Calgary Alta. Midland photo by Maxwell Filmworks; St. Louis photo ©Timothy Hursley; Glenmore photo by Dawn Stringer, On A Wire Photography & Design

“There’s a whole trend of libraries being community spaces, and you can really see the real strong evidence for that in visuals for this competition,” IIDA executive VP and CEO Cheryl S. Durst says. “In so many of the entries we saw that the libraries wanted to be a centerpiece and a center place for a community.”

Serving as the judging panel for the 2014 ALA/IIDA Library Interior Design Awards were Christy S. Cain, senior associate, Perkins + Will; Stasia Czech, senior associate and interior designer, NBBJ; Jessica N. Kayongo, anthropology & interim sociology librarian, Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame; and Richard L. (Dick) Waters, MLS, principal consultant, Godfrey’s Associates, Inc.

30,000 SQUARE FEET & SMALLER Glenmore Christian Academy Elementary Library, Calgary, Alta. Loop Interior Design Inc., Calgary, Alta. It was Loop Interior Design’s first time designing a library, yet with a limited budget and short time frame the firm succeeded in creating an award-winning space that is meant to be fun and open for the benefit of both children and adults, according to Stacy Gilchrist, the company’s founder.

As you walk into the library, one of the first things you can see is a large radius bookshelf with a round bulkhead overhead, with colorful lights that help to establish a sense of space. Walk around the library and find graphic wallpaper of the alphabet, with custom bench seating and computer stools that can wobble slightly for children to enjoy.

Low-level bookshelves, seats, and computer desk units make the space comfortable for young students and easier for librarians and teachers to monitor the children in the library. Half of the furniture is movable in order to be convenient for adults who use the space for meetings. A designated room at the side has a smartboard and adjustable bench seating for teachers.

HONORABLE MENTION

Education Commons, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Joel Sanders Architect, New York OVER 30,000 SQUARE FEET James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University, Raleigh Snohetta/Clark Nexsen/Another Inside Job, New York North Carolina State University’s library was designed around an integration of technology by which each “piece has been thought through to serve a present user need, as well as to adapt to changing needs of the future.” (See “Tomorrow, Visualized” in September 2013 Library by Design.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Claire T. Carney Library, North Dartmouth, MA designLAB architects, Boston Odegaard Undergrad. Library, Seattle Miller Hull Partnership, Seattle 30,000 SQUARE FEET & SMALLER Queens Library, Jamaica, NY Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership (interior), 1100 Architect (building design), New York Queens Library (QL) has grown to become even more of a large resource center for many families, especially its youngest members, and yet early readers didn’t have a space designed for them until now, according to architect Lee H. Skolnick, whose experience designing informal learning spaces like children’s museums made him right for the job.

He designed the two-story Children’s Library Discovery Center with the narrative of “Exploring Your World” in mind, best captured by a colorful portal from the main library with the word “Discover!” hanging overhead, which leads to an interactive map of the county on the floor.

From there children can follow colored lines along the floor and stairs to a section of the library as part of a wayfinding system. Each color is associated with a specific topic; in each section, a sculpture related to the theme can be found hanging above (i.e., planets above the astronomy section). In the center of the main level there is an activity area for science-based interactive exhibit stations programmed by the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The seating and tables were designed to accommodate future interactive activities.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

City Library, Seinäjoki, Finland JKMM Architects, Helsinki, Finland Ketchikan Public Library, AK Bettisworth Welsh Whiteley, Fairbanks, AK OVER 30,000 SQUARE FEET Midland Centennial Library, TX Dewberry, Dallas A few years ago there was talk of defunding the Midland County library system because hardly anyone visited it. The challenge for Denelle Wrightson, an architect at Dewberry, was to turn that around by transforming a former big-box furniture dealer building into a 3,300 square foot modern library that made people want visit and stay a while.

Based on continued discussions between Dewberry and members of the community, the architects settled on a nature theme that would emanate a sense of warmth to create a welcoming space for everyone. To that end, they placed a working fireplace in a quiet room and realistic replicas of four different trees indigenous to the area, which was especially meaningful at a time when Midland was experiencing severe drought.

Wanting to marry the traditional feel with 21st-century technology, Dewberry designed a pathway that runs through the library with images projected from above. Projectors were also installed in the children’s room, which also houses a model hot air balloon in which children can read. There is also a large flexible multipurpose space to help bring other kinds of culture to the community, which otherwise lacks space to house traveling exhibitions.

HONORABLE MENTION

Cedar Rapids Public Library, IA OPN Architects, Cedar Rapids, IA (see “The Comeback Kids”) 30,000 SQUARE FEET & SMALLER Gensler Los Angeles Resource Library Gensler, Los Angeles OUTSTANDING HISTORIC RENOVATION Central Library, St. Louis Public Library CannonDesign, St. Louis (see “Growing Room,” May 2013 LBD) OVER 30,000 SQUARE FEET Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Gensler, Dallas SINGLE SPACE DESIGN Hamilton Grange Teen Center, New York Public Library Rice+Lipka Architects, New York ON THE BOARDS New Law Library of Harlem, New York MULTIPLICITIES, New York

Cesar R. Bustamante Jr. is a Filipino American reporter raised in Queens, NY, whose focus is in data visualization and video storytelling for the web