Minneapolis Public Libraries keep just terrible hours! You’ve noticed this, I’m sure.
Me, I live in and about the uptown area, and it seems the Walker Branch is just about never open. I had much more luck with the library back when I was a freelancer: Central hadn’t yet shutdown and I often found myself free during daylight hours when I could actually catch the Walker during operating hours to peruse its slim-pickings. These days I try to make it there on Monday or Wednesday evenings, when the branch is open late, but only 8 p.m. late–which is not very late at all if you ask me. Saturdays are more convenient: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. But there are two used bookstores just a stone’s throw away. If I’ve got a hankering for a certain book, or any random one for that matter, you’ll often find me chatting up the booksellers at Booksmart (nice guys, all–except that new one!) or scouring the stacks at Magers & Quinn (better selection). I find the urge to pick up a new book is greatest during the wee hours. And I can generally scrounge together–what–five or six bucks to blow on some used paperback. Damsel though I might be, I’ll brave the dark, mugger-ridden streets of uptown whenever there’s a hankering for a new book.
But I miss going to the library and look forward to Central’s re-opening.
Indulge me now in this parenthetic thought: I recently got to tour Central Library-in-progress. I’d heard a lot of people criticizing the edifice, generally hurling such predictable insults as “Too much sunlight! Bad for books!” or “It looks just like the old library.” The detractors might have a point on this last one–because the new library’s golden exterior certainly resembles that of the old. But the inside bears almost no resemblance. I found it to be quite the airy, anodyne space. The best part is definitely the foyer, that huge hall living just beneath the spear-headed cantilever. There’s something here that’s reminiscent of Centre Georges Pompidou–perhaps it’s the out-lying escalator. It reminds me of a futuristic, self-contained city, or maybe just a posh modern hotel. Something straight outta Jacques Tati’s Playtime–only better constructed. (However, on the topic of great phallic structures: I noticed the cantilever was dripping some ominously long and dagger-like icicles after that snow storm a few weeks back.)
Back on-track: Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library is hosting a series of discussions about restoring hours and lost services to both neighborhood and Central libraries. (Central is set to be closed on Sundays for example.) Tonight’s meeting is at the Northeast Branch from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.. Check out www.friendsofmpl.org for more info.
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