North Village Branch Library closing for five months

Press release from the city:

North Village Branch Closing for Five Months in Preparation
for the Opening of the NEW Branch Library

New North Village Branch

On Monday, December 1, 2008 the North Village Branch of the Austin Public Library located in North Central Austin at 2139 W.
Anderson Lane will close its doors for approximately 5 months to prepare for opening in the newly constructed library building located at 2505 Steck Avenue, near the corner of Steck Avenue and Burnet Road. The projected Grand Opening for the new North Village Branch is April 25, 2009 and the Austin Public Library will partner with the community to make the event a very special and festive occasion. For interim library service please visit the Old Quarry Branch, 7051 Village Center Dr., or the Yarborough Branch, 2200 Hancock Dr. All library services at the North Village Branch will stop on November 29, 2008. Please call 974-7400 for additional information or
visit www.cityofaustin.org/library.

In the 1998 City of Austin General Obligation Bond Election, voters approved the funding to build a permanent, 11,000 square foot branch library to serve this area of the city. The existing North Village Branch has been housed in leased spaces since its inception in 1970. Since 1989, it has been located in a 5,000 square foot storefront space in the Star Home Shopping Center located near the intersection of Anderson Lane and Burnet Road. Once open, the new North Village Branch Library will operate as a “library for the future”, patterned after a popular new design model for community libraries which incorporates many features found in upscale bookstores.

This new and very sustainable branch library facility was designed by Limbacher & Godfrey, Inc. in keeping with Green Building Program concepts and is presently being finished by Jamail & Smith Construction. The City of Austin Art In Public Places program selected one of Austin’s best-known glass artists, Kathleen Ash for the library’s public art project. She has created a window wall between the browsing area and the meeting room, using colorful laminated glass to depict children sailing on open books over an ocean of letters (or sea of knowledge) heading towards an island of discovery. Additionally, in the library’s “living room,” Ash’s creation is a mobile of large laminated glass letters suspended by cables. These letters, comprised of translucent white glass which emulates parchment, are inscribed with quotes from literature.