|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
The Library in Pictures
I have a couple of pretty cool things to report this week – both having more to do with architecture and photography of our building than with actual library services, but I’m pretty happy about both.
Last Friday, we had two different photographers working in the library, for very different purposes. One was an architectural photography specialist, hired by the architects of our building (Hughes Condon Marler in Vancouver) to document the building one year after opening. The other was a photographer from a company called My Planet 360, which creates panoramic shots of locations -- 360° around and all the way up and down, too. They take wide-angle views in all directions and then somehow “stitch” them together into a seamless video-like environment that you move around with your computer mouse.
The company, based in Squamish, did the shoot at no cost for us, and we’ll have it on our website in a few weeks. If you’d like to see what it’s like, you can look at the Squamish Public Library, the Ski Jump in the Callaghan, a Bobsleigh start at the Sliding Centre, and lots of other Sea to Sky locations. Just go to www.myplanet360.com. A friendly warning: be careful with your mouse – if you move it around too fast you can get a bit queasy!
My other really exciting news is that the Whistler Public Library is featured in Canadian Architect magazine this month! There are several very dramatic photos, and the story goes far beneath the surface of what the building looks like. It documents the planning process and the philosophy and rationale behind many of the architectural features. It reminded me of some things I had forgotten, and it educated me about some things I never knew!
We’ll be acquiring a couple of copies of the magazine for our Reference collection in the near future; you can also read the article on the website, which is www.cdnarchitect.com; click on “Read the current issue” and go to the lead story, called “Room to Read.”
With both of these pieces of publicity hitting the virtual street, my guess is that we’ll have another wave of architects and architecture buffs coming in to gawk. They’ll all have cameras, too.
Lauren Stara, Library Director