Silver Lake's new 13,600 sq. ft. library. Photo: M. Imlay
It was a long time in coming, but Silver Lake finally saw the much-anticipated opening of its new $12-million library this morning. The residents’ campaign for the building actually began in the mid-1990s, but considering how Silver Lake’s elite history dates to the early 1900s, you wonder why it even took that long.
In any event, today’s opening ceremonies at the corner of Glendale and Silver Lake Blvds. featured the usual speechifying by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, district council representatives Eric Garcetti and Tom LaBonge, and a host of other civic dignitaries.
However, the real heroes in this story are Los Angeles Public Library administrators who resourcefully used a $335-million construction bond approved in 1989 to build or upgrade a total of 64 branches. Not only were they able to commission many more libraries than originally envisioned, but they managed to create a series of distinctive, state-of-the-art structures perfectly blending with each community’s “sense of place.”
Silver Lake’s library is the capstone to this venture, with a design inspired by architect Richard Neutra, who lived and worked in the neighborhood not far from the new building.
- For a full library backstory, see this LAT piece.
- To become a Friend of the Silver Lake Library, follow this link.
- For more about Neutra and Silver Lake, visit this L.A. Places post.
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If you’re a fan of the library, you’ll like this footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNNdVB4oKOY