As noted by a visitor in a recent comment, at long last a fully equipped temporary Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library has opened at 945 Rhode Island Avenue next to the Shaw Junior High School.
The grand opening is next Wednesday, November 14th from 4 to 5:30 p.m., to be followed by a “Hopes and Dreams” meeting to “solicit community input about the service priorities desired in the soon to be constructed Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library” that will take the place of the old library shown here. For more information contact Archie Williams at archie.williams at dc.gov.
It’s not my neighborhood, so I don’t know if my hopes and dreams count. But Shaw good do well to emulate the Rogers Park branch of the Chicago Public library. It’s two stories, and is integrated into the commercial district on Clark. Flush with the street and with big picture windows to look out and look in. It’s sort of a modern interpretation of traditional brick Chicago architecture. It was such a joy to use. And always filled with neighborhood kids. Just like a library should be. Pictures here
The usual architectural criticism of libraries is that they look and feel like prisons for books. The old Shaw Library appears to be no exception. As a style movement, Brutalism gives itself away in its very name.
Though Mies van der Rohe went in a different direction downtown and Rem Koolhaas has recently taken his own shot at it, building a library that looks more like a community asset than a fortressed U.S. embassy is easier than one might think.