On November 24, the webinar of IFLA/Systematic Public Library of the Year Award 2021 ended successfully at 14:00 pm Amsterdam time. Representatives from the short-listed libraries from the 2020-2021 award, including Ningbo Library, as well as the curators and representatives from the two previous winners joined the webinar.
The award is presented to a library somewhere in the world that has best managed to combine open and functional architecture with creative IT solutions and has included both digital developments and local culture. The libraries shortlisted in 2021 have unique performances in the sustainable use of materials, the way natural light is integrated into the building, and many architectural details.
Xu Yibo, Director of Ningbo Library, was invited to give a speech at the webinar, introducing in detail the cultural differences encountered by Danish designers in China, and finally the balance he found among the differences. The differences between Chinese and Western cultures have had an impact on the building’s material structure, functional layout, decorative colors, artistic style and many other aspects. During the entire construction process, Ningbo Library and Danish designers have fully communicated and learned from each other. Through tolerance and respect, they worked together to resolve differences in their cultural concepts.
For example, in order to coordinate with the surrounding lake topography, the original design planned the building as a southeast-northwest diagonal layout, which violated the traditional Eastern concept of order and folklore psychology, so that they finally changed the design to the central axis. In addition, considering the different population bases between China and the West (Chinese libraries generally have more readers than Western libraries), and adults and children sharing the same library, due to which the noise problem is particularly prominent, the designers added a glass door at the entrance of each functional area, which has no effect on daylighting and at the same time, avoids the noise transmission.
In view of China’s world-renowned achievements in the prevention of COVID-19, Xu also shared various countermeasures of Ningbo Library in the epidemic: First, implement the real-name reservation system, check the reservation code and health code and body temperature while readers entering the library control the number of people in the library in real time. Second, readers and library staff are asked to wear masks and to maintain a safe social distance. Last but not least, clean the open area every day before the opening of the library and configure a disinfection robot to perform automatic spray disinfection at regular intervals, and at the same time, a centralized disinfection of all returned documents is also required.
In the expert interaction session, the curators and representatives respectively introduced the most proud elements of their public library. Deichman Bjørvika, the winner this year, created many small caves and rooms for children to hide in to play or read. The Marrickville Library in Australia believes that their most special part is a green and sustainable building system, in which they use 29,000 recycled bricks, and the rainwater is collected for plant irrigation. Ningbo Library also shared the concept of the central bookshelf. By designing the interior as a daylighting atrium, it added a variable structure to facilitate adjustment when the number of readers increases.
Finally, Sander van Kempen, Member of SC Public Libraries and member of the jury of the Public Library of the Year Award, reviewed the history of the award, emphasized the importance of library architecture as a key factor for the successful operation of public libraries, and gave high hopes in the future library industry in combining functional architecture with innovative IT solutions, and digital development with local culture.
