beautiful libraries

take a trip without leaving your laptop

Mar 31, 2020

these tuesday and thursday posts are delightful discoveries i’ve come across doing research or bounding down Internet rabbit trails. they are usually reserved for paying subscribers, but i want you to see what you’re missing out on if you only have a free subscription.

subscribe for free or upgrade to a paid subscription here:

virtual library

this rabbit trail began for me with this tweet:

Architecture Classico @world_classico

Library in Minecraft is looking better than any real life modern ones. What does this tell you about what people really desire?

“what does this tell you about what people desire?”

i love that question.

as it turns out, this is more than just an exercise in architecture. this minecraft library is a place that many people have access to, even if they don’t have access to a free press. the building houses many documents that are banned or censored in their respective countries.

here’s more:

learn more about the project on uncensoredlibrary.com.

i guess people desire both beauty and truth.

real libraries

the virtual minecraft library prompted memories of the library i grew up going to.

it’s now the historical branch of our city’s library. the current main branch is a big rectangle — efficient, but not pretty — although it is built onto an historic home. the home is at the opposite end of the main entrance, though, so it is all but forgotten to modern library patrons.

but the Historic Branch, the “old library” as we call it, is a beautiful building. it was a family mansion, and features marble fireplace mantles sourced from Carrara, Italy — the same marble mines where Michelangelo acquired his marble for pieces such as the David and the Pieta. to be able to touch Carrara marble almost brought me to tears.

we were given a tour by Margot Still, manager of the branch, and she allowed me to take some photos.

and here is a photo i restored from when the Cherokee Chieftain was still out front (it now resides in front of the 5Points Museum):

and artwork in my parents’ house, done by Martha Kidwell, friend of the family and one of our high school art teachers:

little libraries

i love the concept of the little free libraries — small borrow-a-book, donate-a-book cubbies outside, unmonitored — and i will often put a copy of my paperbacks in when i find one.

often the little free libraries are constructed to resemble the building with which they are associated, be it a home or a church, for example. Murfreesboro residents are most familiar with the little free library outside the Central Christian Church on East Main Street near the square, as the little free library sports the same gold dome as the church.