Birkenhead Library is known for its view. You pick a book or open a laptop with the harbour spread out in front of you, in a building that is generous with space and light. If any library has been designed around how its space is used, it is this one. Spread over two floors, it is divided by glass walls and tall windows so that nothing gets in the way of the outlook. There are rooms for community groups and meetings, and the shelves on both levels are set far enough apart that the whole place has a polished kind of calm.
A calm reading space for children
The libraries I have visited so far put their children's area on the ground floor, wide open and filled with toys and child-friendly everything. Birkenhead does it differently. Its children's corner is built for reading. The children's shelves are upstairs, at the top of the stairs. The low door onto the staircase has a safety catch, so with small children you take the lift in the centre of the building instead. Low shelves and front-facing bookcases sit at child height, and in the middle of the room are colourful modular seats in slightly muted tones and small tables with rounded edges, all neatly arranged. A long bench sofa runs along the wall. Follow the sunlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling glass and you reach a door out onto the deck. The children's collection is solid and well curated. Korean books, though, are thin: one bay of children's shelving and one bay in the adult section. We usually leave a library with an armful of children's books. This time, for the first time in a long while, we walked out with fewer than ten.
A den for teenagers
The other thing that caught my eye is that Birkenhead has a separate teenage area. Like the rest of the building it has a big window, with a long desk for studying built along it. In the middle, large modular sofas are arranged loosely, and there is a big separate table as well. What makes the space unusual is that it is enclosed on three sides, with only the entrance left open. A tall bookcase faces the window, and there is smaller shelving along the side wall. There is no floor above it, so the ceiling rises the full height of the building and the room feels open despite the walls. It is a small refuge for teenagers, a bit like a den: out of other people's line of sight, snug, and theirs.
Read more on this series:
Library Tour (1) Albany Village Library
Library Tour (2) Glenfield Library
한국어 요약
Birkenhead 도서관은 전망으로 알려진 곳이다. 책을 고르거나 노트북을 열면 앞에 항구가 펼쳐진다. 2층 건물을 유리벽과 높은 창으로 나눠 시야를 가리는 것이 없고, 서가 사이도 넉넉해 전체가 정돈된 고요함을 풍긴다. 모임과 회의를 위한 방도 있다.
지금까지 가 본 도서관들은 어린이 공간을 1층에 넓게 열어 두고 장난감으로 채웠는데, 여기는 다르다. 어린이 코너가 읽기를 위해 만들어져 있다. 서가는 2층 계단 위에 있고, 계단 쪽 낮은 문에 안전 걸쇠가 있어 어린아이와 함께라면 건물 가운데 엘리베이터를 타면 된다. 아이 키에 맞춘 낮은 서가와 앞표지가 보이는 책장, 차분한 색의 모듈 의자와 모서리가 둥근 작은 테이블이 놓여 있고, 통유리 쪽 문으로 나가면 데크가 있다. 어린이 장서는 알차지만 한국어 책은 어린이 서가 한 칸, 성인 서가 한 칸뿐이다. 늘 한 아름 빌려 나오던 우리가 오랜만에 열 권이 안 되게 들고 나왔다.
또 눈에 띈 것은 따로 마련된 청소년 공간이다. 큰 창을 따라 공부용 긴 책상이 있고, 가운데에 큰 모듈 소파와 테이블이 놓여 있다. 입구를 빼고 세 면이 막혀 있지만 위층이 없어 천장이 건물 끝까지 높아 답답하지 않다. 남의 시선에서 벗어난, 아늑한 청소년들만의 굴 같은 곳이다.
Yussi
Writer · Social work student, Massey University
A mother of three girls and a Korean immigrant making Mairangi Bay home — writing about starting school, home learning and everyday life on Auckland's North Shore.
More about Yussi →Frequently asked questions
- Where is the children's area at Birkenhead Library?
- Upstairs, at the top of the stairs. The low door onto the staircase has a safety catch, so with small children take the lift in the centre of the building. The corner has low shelves, front-facing bookcases, small round-edged tables and a door out onto a deck.
- Does Birkenhead Library have Korean books?
- A few — one bay of children's shelving and one bay in the adult section. The English children's collection is solid and well curated.
- Is there a space for teenagers at Birkenhead Library?
- Yes, a separate teen area enclosed on three sides, with a long study desk along a big window, large modular sofas and a separate table. With no floor above it, the ceiling rises the full height of the building.
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