Burton Barr Central Library
| Burton Barr Central Library | |
|---|---|
 |
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| General information | |
| Type | Public library |
| Location | 1221 North Central Avenue Phoenix, Arizona 85004 United States |
| Coordinates | 33°27′45.00″N 112°04′23.50″W / 33.4625000°N 112.0731944°WCoordinates: 33°27′45.00″N 112°04′23.50″W / 33.4625000°N 112.0731944°W |
| Construction started | 1989 |
| Opened | 1995 |
| Owner | Phoenix Public Library |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 5 |
| Floor area | 26,000 m2 (280,000 sq ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | bruderDWLarchitects |
The Burton Barr Central Library is the central library of Phoenix, Arizona. It is the flagship location and administrative headquarters for the Phoenix Public Library. It was named in honor of Burton Barr, the Republican Major Leader in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1966 to 1986. The library houses a collection of 1,000,000 volumes.
The building was funded by a 1988 bond issue and replaced a nearby 1950s-era facility on McDowell Road that is now part of the Phoenix Art Museum.
The design for the Burton Barr Central Library was a collaboration between DWL Architects and Will Bruder. The five-story building opened in May 1995 and is 280,000 square feet (26,000 m²). Vertical circulation through the building is facilitated by a central open core containing three high-speed elevators and a five-level grand staircase known as the "crystal canyon." The building incorporates a roof structure inspired by Buckminster Fuller's tensegrity structures and features shade sails on the north facade and motorized louvers on the south facade for improved sun control. An open, 1-acre (0.40 ha) reading room comprises the fifth floor. A summer solstice celebration is held there annually, where the lighting effects are best observed. At solar noon, some of the roof skylights project circles of sunlight directly down the north-south midline axis of the library, with some reaching the ground floor lobby. Sunlight simultaneously washes the upper eastern and western walls of the fifth level.
On July 15, 2017, the library sustained water damage from a broken sprinkler system, caused by a storm passing through the city. About 6000 books were damaged. The library will remain closed until June 2018.
The great reading room on the fifth floor is 1 acre in area, one of the largest in the US. It houses many study areas and the nonfiction collection.
hive @ central is located on the second floor of the library and is a discovery space for business entrepreneurs. It is open to the public and offers free services.
The Arizona Room is located on the second floor and houses a research collection focused on Southwestern heritage, lifestyle, and geography from prehistoric times to the present.
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