AUSTIN | Main Public Library | 123 FEET | 6 FLOORS | COMPLETE

[KevinFromTexas]

http://impactnews.com/central-austin...entral-library

Austin’s new central library

By Bobby Longoria
Friday, 28 January 2011

CENTRAL AUSTIN — Austin’s first library of the future, a facility meant to propagate community activity and knowledge through technology and innovation, will open its doors in downtown by 2015.

“We are going to build a hundred-year building that is built for the ages—to endure,” said John Gillum, facilities planning manager for Austin’s new central library. “In 2015, we want to be on the cutting edge of how people want their information.”

Libraries were once quiet strongholds of information, with rows of books lined up spine to spine. Austin’s current central library, the John Henry Faulk Central Library, was built with this model in 1979, but as technology grew and as the population became more interconnected, this model became antiquated, Gillum said.

At a size between 185,000 square feet and 200,000 square feet, the central library will be nearly twice the size of the Faulk library. An underground parking garage with 200 spots will be built alongside the library. There will be 17 different meeting spaces, including study rooms, conference rooms and a special event center that will hold 350 people.

[M1EK]

They're building a library for 100 years yet crowing about a parking garage that's going to make it irredeemably suburban, hard to access by transit, and much more expensive.

Yay?

[JAM]

Originally Posted by M1EK

They're building a library for 100 years yet crowing about a parking garage that's going to make it irredeemably suburban, hard to access by transit, and much more expensive.

Yay?

I'm willing to bet that cars will still be here in 100 years. I'll have my kids kids kids pick up the money on anyone wanting to take that bet. I don't see why this location is any worse/better as far as transit goes, transit can change routes. I think the location is an excellent location being very central to other things besides the library - I can envision it being a nice place to meet and being a focal point for the community. That is if there is anyone left that can actually read.

[DougRockstead]

putting the cart before the horse? So they shouldn't build a parking garage? that's a little off kilter. Maybe in a 100 year we'll all have jetpacks and won't need them, but you're going to need a parking garage to meet everyone's needs now. unless you don't want anyone to use the library?

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by JAM

I'm willing to bet that cars will still be here in 100 years. I'll have my kids kids kids pick up the money on anyone wanting to take that bet. I don't see why this location is any worse/better as far as transit goes, transit can change routes. I think the location is an excellent location being very central to other things besides the library - I can envision it being a nice place to meet and being a focal point for the community. That is if there is anyone left that can actually read.

Cars weren't here 100 years ago (well, they weren't typical); and, no, it's not as easy as "transit can change routes". I went into it in more detail on the crackplog a couple years ago here and earlier here

Long-haul bus routes don't make two-block jogs just for the hell of it (people already complain about how supposedly indirect these things are). Each one of those bus routes might deliver a dozen passengers a day to the existing library - enough to make it a valuable part of the demand for the current route, but not enough to justify hauling a long, heavy, bus around a bunch of tight corners.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Cars weren't here 100 years ago (well, they weren't typical); and, no, it's not as easy as "transit can change routes". I went into it in more detail on the crackplog a couple years ago here and earlier here

I'd advocate bring back a Dillo to establish a dedicated circulator that ran up and down Guadalupe and Lavaca. This would fit the no turn requirement your crackplog suggests and would drop people off 3 blocks from the library and pretty much anything else in downtown/UT area, and probably increase ridership to boot - I submit the primary reason people who own cars don't take bus who might otherwise is because convenience issues - long waits and instincts which tell them any given route is unpredictable.

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by JAM

I'd advocate bring back a Dillo to establish a dedicated circulator that ran up and down Guadalupe and Lavaca. This would fit the no turn requirement your crackplog suggests and would drop people off 3 blocks from the library and pretty much anything else in downtown/UT area, and probably increase ridership to boot - I submit the primary reason people who own cars don't take bus who might otherwise is because convenience issues - long waits and instincts which tell them any given route is unpredictable.

Transfers kill ridership too. The old library is right on a handful of long-distance routes and 2-3 blocks off pretty much all the rest of the major routes. A ton of people can get to it without a transfer (and they do; hang out there some morning and watch people get off the bus and go in the building).

[Bestie1001]

Originally Posted by JAM

I'm willing to bet that cars will still be here in 100 years. I'll have my kids kids kids pick up the money on anyone wanting to take that bet. I don't see why this location is any worse/better as far as transit goes, transit can change routes. I think the location is an excellent location being very central to other things besides the library - I can envision it being a nice place to meet and being a focal point for the community. That is if there is anyone left that can actually read.

I agree to this if any in Austin that change. Then it would be probably for the best of the place. For more reliable and high-tech place for people to meet.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/ne...contracts.html

Council OKs millions in large contracts

Austin Business Journal by Vicky Garza, Staff Writer
Date: Friday, June 29, 2012, 2:53pm CDT - Last Modified: Friday, June 29, 2012, 3:26pm CDT

Vicky Garza
Staff Writer- Austin Business Journal

The Austin City Council approved several large contracts at its June 28 meeting.

A $1.3 million amendment to the agreement with Lake | Flato Architects Inc. and Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott Inc. for architectural services for the new Central Library.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/l...entral-/nSNnd/

Posted: 7:54 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012
NEW DETAILS: AUSTIN LIBRARY
Designs coming into focus for Austin’s new central library

By Sarah Coppola
American-Statesman Staff

Designs are nearly complete for a sunlight-filled central library that will be Austin’s biggest new public building downtown since City Hall and an anchor for an emerging retail-and-residential area.

City Council members got a look at the updated plans Thursday, and seemed pleased with what they saw: a $120 million “library of the future” that will include an airy atrium, multiple gathering spaces and a street-level cafe, among other features.

Construction is expected to start next fall, with a grand opening in spring 2016.

The facade of the six-story library will be a mix of limestone and glass that will let in plenty of natural light. It will be the hub for Austin’s nearly two-dozen library branches and will contain 530,000 books and other materials as well as 24,000 electronic books. Faulk is 110,000 square feet and contains 430,000 volumes.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/l...entral-/nSNnd/

120M smackeroos and probably the premier block in Austin. Good thing we're not investing in something as obsolete as lending library in the era of iPads. Oh...wait...

Also, could Austin squeeze another mid rise building into downtown?

What was wrong with 8th and Guadalupe? Too convenient?

[KevinFromTexas]

Actually, 8th & Guadalupe is horrible and anything but convenient. The Faulk Library is running out of space. It's not easy to get to as a pedestrian (Guadalupe sucks) and is a pain to get to on bicycle, again, Guadalupe, and that huge hill on 8th Street. And gasp, dare I say it? It has pretty much no parking. I know parking is a bad word in downtown, but this library serves people from areas outside of downtown. Moving the library to Cesar Chavez will help with that, not just for the increased parking, but for the better access. Cesar Chavez connects to both Mopac and I-35. Also the downtown residential concentration is going to be around the new location.

[migol24]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Actually, 8th & Guadalupe is horrible and anything but convenient. The Faulk Library is running out of space. It's not easy to get to as a pedestrian (Guadalupe sucks) and is a pain to get to on bicycle, again, Guadalupe, and that huge hill on 8th Street. And gasp, dare I say it? It has pretty much no parking. I know parking is a bad word in downtown, but this library serves people from areas outside of downtown. Moving the library to Cesar Chavez will help with that, not just for the increased parking, but for the better access. Cesar Chavez connects to both Mopac and I-35. Also the downtown residential concentration is going to be around the new location.

Yup! This is a perfect spot in my opinion, especially once all the development is finished. It's also gonna be extra special to be on the waterfront, that way when you are in the Library you'll have an awesome view.

[nixcity]

It's a trophy, plain and simple, I'd love to see that money spent somewhere else. How about towards the light rail, or for a museum? Oh well, it still will be cool I just don't understand how this has taken soooo long to start after it was approved in a bond years ago, what could they possibly still need to do? And yet a whole more year before construction will even begin.

[East7thStreet]

Is it too late for them to change their mind on spending 120 million storing paper books? With every passing day this thing looks like a bigger and bigger joke. If they are smart they will design the space to easily be converted to office or museum space.... because that is what it is going to be in 10-20 years.

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by nixcity

It's a trophy, plain and simple, I'd love to see that money spent somewhere else. How about towards the light rail, or for a museum? Oh well, it still will be cool I just don't understand how this has taken soooo long to start after it was approved in a bond years ago, what could they possibly still need to do? And yet a whole more year before construction will even begin.

I think the amount approved was $90 million but the cost was still $120 million so they still needed to find the other $30 million to get started. That is why it took longer. To find all the money.

Originally Posted by East7thStreet

Is it too late for them to change their mind on spending 120 million storing paper books? With every passing day this thing looks like a bigger and bigger joke. If they are smart they will design the space to easily be converted to office or museum space.... because that is what it is going to be in 10-20 years.

There is a lot more to a library than just storing paper books. Especially in todays digital world.

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by East7thStreet

Is it too late for them to change their mind on spending 120 million storing paper books? With every passing day this thing looks like a bigger and bigger joke. If they are smart they will design the space to easily be converted to office or museum space.... because that is what it is going to be in 10-20 years.

It was just within the last couple days, during my web surfing, I ran across an article somewhere about the rising popularity of libraries and their relevance to the digital age.

I personally think this will be one of the most gorgeous buildings in town, certainly a lot nicer than the bland institutional monoliths to the immediate NXNW of the convention center.

You probably don't frequent libraries much yourself or you'd know how crowded they tend to be. Drop into a few around town when you get a chance and you'll see what's happening. Predictions of the demise of paper books are more off-base than predictions of the end of vinyl records. I refuse to read digital "books". They're not books, they're pixels on a monitor! The feel of holding a real book, and the rest granted to my eyes, far surpasses the experience of reading from a screen. Of course YMMV.

[KevinFromTexas]

On the issue of wasting money on such a thing, downtown needs public (free) meeting places for people to gather. I know the weather is damn near perfect in Austin, but there are days when it's not. You can't meet outside all the time or in hotels. I think public libraries will continue to evolve to the point where they lend out electronic devices such as tablets or at least offer them at the library.

[Ice of the X-Winter]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

On the issue of wasting money on such a thing, downtown needs public (free) meeting places for people to gather. I know the weather is damn near perfect in Austin, but there are days when it's not. You can't meet outside all the time or in hotels. I think public libraries will continue to evolve to the point where they lend out electronic devices such as tablets or at least offer them at the library.

So the tax payers should pay $120 million just so people have a place to meet on a rainy day? I think there must be a better argument for an expensive library. I personally haven't been to a libray since this thing called the internet was invented.

[Downtown_Austin]

Originally Posted by Ice of the X-Winter

So the tax payers should pay $120 million just so people have a place to meet on a rainy day? I think there must be a better argument for an expensive library. I personally haven't been to a libray since this thing called the internet was invented.

Why libraries should be the next great startup incubators

http://qz.com/55691/why-libraries-sh...tup-incubators

"This old idea of the public library as co-working space now offers a modern answer – one among many – for how these aging institutions could become more relevant two millennia after the original Alexandria library burned to the ground. Would-be entrepreneurs everywhere are looking for business know-how and physical space to incubate their start-ups. Libraries meanwhile may be associated today with an outmoded product in paper books. But they also happen to have just about everything a 21st century innovator could need: Internet access, work space, reference materials, professional guidance."