A Promenade in the Art & Music Department of The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Abstract

While the medieval castle and the catacombs in Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition would have been symbolic of Cincinnati's old library building, only the promenade theme is appropriate accompaniment as we examine the new Public Library and its & Music Department. Opened for service early in 1955, here is, almost literally, a library without walls, spacious and functional, quiet and inviting. The & Music Department' covers an area of 60 x 90 feet, approximately a quarter of the second floor. Let us begin our promenade as we emerge from the elevator by noting the cork floors, the acoustic tile ceilings, banded in light. Continuous double windows above the outer bookshelves carry heat-absorbing glass for the exterior panes and inner panes of clear plate, sand-blasted on the sealed side to control sky and sun glare. At night the lights reflected in these windows give one the feeling of looking into the still waters of a deep blue sea. There are bright accents of color such as Venetian-glass tile in blue, green, and gold on our twelve columns, so ornamented to make the area handsomely worthy to be the Eda Kuhn Loeb Memorial, and financed through the Eda Kuhn Loeb grant. Warm Chinese red is glimpsed as backing of the bookshelves along the outer walls of the department. Street noises are muffled; only an occasional fire engine or ambulance can be heard. As we move toward the department's main service desk we pass the Art & Music in the News bulletin board, so designated in large and well-designed cork letters, painted red. Here on the peg-board painted gray, we post up-to-date program criticism, feature articles, announcements from the local press and New York papers. There are listings of festivals, of exhibitions, pictures of visiting celebrities, obituaries of famous artists or musicians. It is easy to set up these ephemeral displays, using the white disks which serve as price tags at hardware stores. Out-of-date material when removed is sorted for clipping files or discarded. On the reverse of this bulletin board, a duplicate peg-board surface is used for display, for plates or photostats which tie in with the exhibit of the moment.