Posted September 8, 2016

A peek at the inside

Architect’s renderings reveal exciting spaces for collaboration, study, tech and more at Temple's new library.

A rendering of the interior of the new library featuring large windows.

Photography By:

Courtesy of Snøhetta and Methanoia

Visitors who walk into the new library’s entryway from the intersection of Liacouras and Polett walks will step into a 24/7 study area and atrium—a secure place to study around the clock.

Although Temple’s new state-of-the-art library at the heart of Main Campus is still little more than a giant hole in the ground, library architects Snøhetta released new digital renderings earlier this summer that offer first hints of the building’s planned interior. For those who can’t bear waiting for the library to open in late 2018, here’s a short guided tour.

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The One Stop desk (center), positioned inside the front door, will serve as the first line of contact between library services and patrons, answering simple questions on the spot or directing users to specific resources and expertise. “It’s like the service nerve-center of the building,” says Dean of Temple University Libraries Joseph P. Lucia. “That’s where you’ll check in.” A video wall is on the left.

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The exhibit space on the first floor will enable the library to display its collections, mount traveling exhibitions and showcase creative work.
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The new library will be full of spaces for technologically sophisticated research and scholarship, from 3-D printing to novel ways to work with data. The Digital Scholars Center is a third-floor space that’s designed to encourage experimentation and help students make or digitize objects.
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Temple’s new library will have a bookbot automated storage and retrieval system that will put more than 1.8 million titles in the hands of patrons at the push of a button. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to access books in traditional open stacks. More than 200,000 volumes, including the library’s heavily used general collections, will still be available for hands-on searching on the fourth floor.
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With seating for over 2,000 people—more than double the capacity of Paley Library—the new library will have five dedicated reading rooms. Pictured here is the quiet reading room, an enclosed fourth-floor space with windows that face the Bell Tower. “I love the serene treetop environment of this space,” says Lucia. “It’s designed to induce calm reflection.”
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Exterior spaces—including this bold fourth-floor terrace—will work as classrooms, informal gathering places and event stages. On the right is part of the building’s green roof, one of the largest in Pennsylvania. The terrace will connect to a fourth-floor reading zone and offer views from both inside and outside the building.
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The idea of a library as a social space—an incubator for conversation and ideas—dates back to ancient Greece. The Graduate Scholars Studio will be a discipline-neutral space on the fourth floor where grad students and faculty can debate, develop and present ideas and research. At night, the glass-enclosed fourth-floor spaces will be a luminous beacon on the top of the library.

- Hillel Hoffmann