Staff at Powell River Public Library are calling on area craftspeople to help give the new library a local look.
To ground the new Crossroads Village library location in local history and Sunshine Coast lifestyle, a design committee spearheaded by assistant chief librarian Rebecca Burbank and teen services coordinator Sonia Zagwyn have put out an open request for locally made furniture designs.
“Something built locally from raw materials will help create a sense of belonging in the new library and our community,” said Zagwyn.
On the hunt for a locally designed and made circulation desk, new materials display cases and storage units, the committee’s goal is to create a library space rooted in the community.
“We want it to feel like the library is sort of like their extended living room,” said Burbank. “It will be nice for people to walk in and know things were made here by local people.”
An additional goal of including local designs is to harness the new library’s large floor space and provide more room for people to spread out and feel at home. One idea is to create a makerspace for local writers, say the librarians.
“They’ll come to the library with projects and work on them in company,” said Zagwyn. “It will create the library as a space to create as well as read.”
Guidelines for craftspeople include preferences for furnishings that use local wood, contrasting forms and colours found in Powell River’s natural environment, such as lichen-inspired greens or arbutus tree reds.
In addition to nature, furniture designs for the new library space should also pay homage to Powell River’s industrial past.
“The new library space has big wooden beams and lovely big windows,” said Zagwyn. “We want furnishings that work with these aspects to create an eco-industrial look.”
The new library is scheduled to open in summer 2016. The closing date for design applications is Friday, December 18. For more information, readers can go to powellriverlibrary.ca/content/request-designs.
