New York

In New York we have a “Library Hotel” as well as several bars named “Library”. And as about a month ago, there is also a chocolatier looking to open his business under the name “Chocolate Library”. Yet there is a 2006 New York state law requiring the education commissioner’s approval to incorporate a business under a name that includes the words library, school, academy, institute or kindergarten. This is supposed to prevent commercial businesses from being mistaken with educational institutions. The New York Times reports that the Chocolate Library’s lawyer recently received a letter from the state.

The chocolatier finds the matter absurd. “No one is coming in here confusing us as a library.”

I personally don't find the idea of a chocolate library a stroke of genius. What if someone actually takes the idea seriously and tries to return some chocolate after a three week “circulation”??

Not all digital books are necessarily e-books. Korean artist Airan Kang’s “Light Reading” show was on exhibit at the Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery until this past weekend (sorry that I’m only getting around to blogging this now). In one installation, she made stacks out of plastic books that pulsated and glowed in different colors. In another, she created a display of open “books” decorated with scrolling LED texts by the likes of Lord Byron and Robert Frost. She filled entire bookshelves with her mesmerizing and shimmering books. Another installation was built upon images of famous libraries and bookstores, images that were lent an almost three-dimensional depth via manipulation of the lighted surfaces.
See also a cool video about Airan Kang.

Given how the design of libraries has almost grown to be more important than the books that are housed within them, it is more crucial than ever to consider the aesthetics of a particular space. An installation by Airan Kang would surely make any library more attractive.

A recent New Yorker cover illustrated a variation on the theme of digital books and the future of reading: hundreds of concerned books peer out of the shelves at a lone reader… who is deeply enthralled by his laptop.

A new cafe has just opened in the vicinity of the New York Public Library – its design gives the illusion of a library that’s been shifted by 90 degrees. If it’s a success, another café is soon to follow – one that has been completely turned on its head.

Thanks to Debbie, who told me about that :)