Sleek Stacks

It’s generally assumed that public libraries are a dying breed. Given that bricks-and-mortar bookstore giants struggle, that Kindles and other e-readers have eliminate the need for many to borrow or purchase traditional books, and cash-strapped local governments cutting library-branch locations or funding, many cultural critics paint a doom-and-gloom scenario for public libraries – one of the most egalitarian of government functions.

However, there are those libraries that thrive despite the challenges placed on libraries. The Plainsboro (NJ) public library serves as a shining example that bucks the trend. Approximately 85% of Plainsboro residents own a library card, and the library’s managers have cast the rapidly-growing community’s library as a hub for local activities.

To keep up with the library’s stratospheric growth, its directors hired BKSK Architects to design a new building that would allow the library to double its size. BKSK devised a three-story, 45,000-sq.-ft. facility that includes an Internet café, children’s science museum and auditorium – not to mention the conventional stacks of books and periodicals.

Public-library officials commissioned Poulin + Morris, a NYC-based environmental-graphic-design (EGD) firm, to design, document and supervise a comprehensive EGD package. Brian Brindisi, one of the firm’s principals, said, “Because of the abundance of non-English-speaking, library users, the program had to be intuitive and visually universal, while remaining timeless and honoring its community-based mission.”

The EGD program’s highlights include large-scale typography and bright colors that identify key user-based information. To engage visitors, Poulin + Morris asked library patrons to submit to submit opening lines from their favorite books in their native languages.
 

Design Communications Ltd. (DCL) Boston facility produced the signage and graphics. Peter Haas, DCL’s senior project manager, said the company was enlisted near construction completion. He said primary concerns included installing footing for the exterior pylon and the production schedule for interior, glass-panel construction.

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The interior-wall graphics entail vinyl graphics, with column-mounted directories that feature acrylic panels that include a combination of screenprinted vinyl and applied-vinyl graphics. The exterior, wall-mounted letters feature waterjet-cut, Schedule 316 stainless-steel letters that are stud-mounted to stone.
Somewhat surprisingly, Haas said vinyl application posed one of the project’s more significant challenges. “Normally, we view vinyl application as business as usual. But, for Plainsboro, he said DCL applied so much media in so many layers, and had to meet a tight schedule.

The project’s crowning glory, an interior donor wall that highlights the library’s many benefactors, comprises approximately 100 pieces of backpainted, sandblasted glass.