library

It’s amazing what you can see in an hour…

Posted on by helenhmk

We were aware of the relativity new Shinkansen from Nagasaki which – eventually will connect to Hakata… but for the time being goes as far as Tadeo-Onsen. we decided to take a ride in the morning before visiting fruit bus stops in the afternoon.

All Shinkansen stations have a similar look and feel – this does aid the traveler, as it makes them easy to navigate.

We had bought reserved tickets the previous night online and so after cycling to the station (bagging our bikes) we collected them from the machine at the station.

I love catching these trains as much as I love cycling… so with the Brompton it’s a perfect match. There was also enough leg room too. The journey was only 25 minutes- so it did not take long at all. We got to the station unpacked the bikes and set off.

Our first stop was a library – no surprises there.. but the library itself is one of those architecturally amazing libraries. It looks stunning.

The library itself has two buildings, one for adults and a separate one for children. The adult one features a bookshop (Tsutaya) and a cafe (Starbucks). Items in the bookshop also include products from the area (which Japan specialises in) and other books and magazines. There is a fairly comprehensive selection of books and products. The library itself is set over a couple of floors and the shelving is similar to Tsutaya book shop if you have visited. Wayfinding is simple and clear. RFID units and catalogue is built into the furniture- and if you are purchasing from the shop it’s all self done from the machine.

There are only two spots where you are allowed to take photos… which is completely understandable. I did spot a couple on the ground floor taking photos in between the shelves – hoping no one would see them.

Around the library were a considerable number of people studying and using the tables. They didn’t have much in the of soft furniture. The shelves were pretty full and they only had a few display areas. They also had a specific spot for local history collection and food could not be consumed in the area.

In the carpark they have a hot potato vending machine…. Perfect for cold days. If you are wondering what the opening hours are – it’s 9am to 9pm every day.

It’s really a fabulous library. Visiting these amazing public spaces in Japan it does make me wish for better investment for the community in our facilities in South Australia.

After the library we cycled less than 200meters to the Takeo Shrine – which also features The Great Camphor Tree of Takeo – which happens to be 3000+ years old, and still alive.

From here we cycled back ti the station to catch the train to visit fruit bus stops. while the route was pretty short – it was a really easy cycle.

Visited a library

Posted on by helenhmk

Downtown Nagasaki and what do we wander past… a library – and there is little surprise that we venture inside.

What I liked –

  • List of popular titles on the catalogue (this is a good idea)
  • Room for talking on the phone
  • High ceilings
  • Great range of craft/sewing magazines
  • New book display on entrance on both floors
  • Lots of people!

Public buildings as art…

Posted on by helenhmk

If you are a follower of the blog – you may recognise this building. Yes – it’s a public library… and why shouldn’t money be spent on making buildings which look great!

Both the seats on the outside and the toilet block all fit the same style. The train sign is included to remind me of the station.

As I had been inside the building previously didn’t need to return. The library has a cafe, RFID technology and a sorter to make the experience easier for customers and staff. Inside the building there is a lot of natural light due to the fabulous large windows. We were. Last here in 2018 (photos below) – and it still looks good today.

Stockholm

Posted on by helenhmk

One of the first on the to do list was to visit the Stockholm Stadsbibliotek.  We ride our bikes there. Despite being a short distance the streets were packed with people and the bike lanes were not as good as Poland (well at least what we saw at the beginning of our time there). 

The library is a very impressive structure for being built in 1928.

Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm Public Library

Although, they do appear to make money from people using the toilets. Can’t say I had thought about that from of income stream myself. However given it’s on the list of places to visit I probably shouldn’t be surprised.  But I will give them credit, as it was very easy to use!

Stockholm Public Library

The collection did have some amazingly old books- found one from 1957… perhaps a good weed is in order.

Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm Public Library

What’s a State Library for

Posted on by helenhmk

Sitting in the Brandon Free Public Library catching up on local news. The are a couple articles about libraries, one about asbestos removal in Rockingham, and value of State Libraries in the Wall Street Journal. I swear I’m not looking for these articles! The Wall Street one is worth a read – as it talks about the radical changes to the New York Public Library as it is made more user friendly and accessible to change with the needs of the time. With this in mind what is our State Library in SA for…?

Wall Street Journal

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Rockingham Free Library

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Spending time at Sendai Mediatheque

Posted on by helenhmk

Sendai Media Tech, originally uploaded by Helen K.

Believe it or not we accidently came across the Sendai Mediatheque (aka a Public Library), and a modern slick one at that. We had been up to see the remains of the Sendai Castle, which has a lovely view over the city. We were on the Loople (yes that is the corect term), which was at crush capcity, to get back to the city. I had managed to get a seat and was nodding off (yes being a tourist is hard work), when Kym said lets get off. He had spotted the name of the Library from the map, and it reminded him what the French call their public libraries.

What a fantastic buidling. It is seven floors of light and activity – and on a Sunday too! The ground floor was featuring a number of young musicians, and people selling knitted and wooven items, a shop and a cafe. Yes we did have a drink and cake at the end of looking around.

While the building is square there are several large light wells from the top of the building that carries light down. The front of each floor has ceiling to floor glass ( not all clear) for the space to be well lit.

The second floor is for computer access and general quiet reading space in front of the windows, AV area (yes they still had video tapes, but not many), and a kids area. The kids area was defined by silver curtains. The thir floor was fiction and non fiction materials, magazines, and lots of study space on seats against the walls or tables. There was a third mezzanine floor, which had a queue of 20-30 people waiting for information assistance, and reference material. The floors above were dedicated art space, movie space, and a meeting space and performance space. Wow.. what a fantastic building. There wasn’t suppose to be any taking of photos, but I ignored the sign – as I could see a few other people were too. My photos don’t do the space justice. If you are ever in Sendai, I highly recommend you check it out!

Visiting a library in China…

Posted on by helenhmk

Checking out, originally uploaded by Helen K.

I know that you are all wondering if we visited a library while in China. Well…. yes we did. If you just want to wander around library in Shanghai, like we do in Australia, well you can’t.

We managed to visit the Shanghai Library which is a very large building with a number of floors, in the french concession quarter. To visit any of the rooms, you really need to have a “Reader’s card”. However, to be frank I really didn’t want to attempt to even explain to the people at the application counter, all I wanted to do was wander around and take a couple of photos, and we were short of time, so I will admit that we didn’t even attempt participating in the red tape process.

However, after we put our bags through the security check and into a locker, we did manage to get into the chinese books section , which also lead into the library shop. We ignored the “insert reader’s card” sign and two staff sitting at the entry (people on the door had no english – one for us!). There were lots of books in Chinese. I’m sure they were good, but the covers were unappealing and had very few pictures.

Each section had its own check out area, which was staffed by a lot of people. There were more than you can see in the photo.

The Library shop, was not your ordinary library shop. It sold nothing to do with libraries, but books about China (in chinese of course), plates, paintings, books, traditional CD’s, and tourist books about China. Surprisingly Kym bought one, as the map was better than the one we were using.

The lack of language is certainly a barrier when on holidays in China and Japan when searching for libraries!