The Providence Public Library

The Providence Public Library in Rhode Island is somehow all the libraries I’ve ever been to. Its design mashes together lots of library tropes (lovingly).

There are light woods, open floors, functional spaces.

There’s a quiet reading room (pictured): dark walnut-toned furniture, warm lighting, lots of laptops around and not many books.

There’s a marble staircase. I guess that’s not a trope, but wow! It looks like something you’d see in Versailles, adorned, on the second landing, with an obligatory statue, woman in this case, burnished by touch, posed without a plaque.

There are stacks, real stacks, like in university libraries. Dense rows of books that point you deeper into the library where you feel like maybe you’ll find the concentration you’re looking for, away from the people but not far from their thoughts.

There’s a little (really little) book sale and a seed exchange. There’s a cafe on the ground floor that is also a teaching kitchen. There’s a makerspace across from that. There’s a little gallery upstairs with a local artist on display. There’s a time capsule set to open in 2075, for the library’s 200th year anniversary. And a whole bunch of rooms I didn’t go in: an auditorium, a wedding venue, office space.

It’s a beautiful building and good shelter from the rain.