New library in Birmingham - Europe's largest - Page 4

vugtitan · 09-10-2013, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Now my library has a competitor for the most horrid looking exterior

Seattle Public Library

Looks like Birmingham Palace.

Grace Elliot · 09-10-2013, 06:41 PM

Seeing buildings like Seattle Public Library, really makes you hope the architects know their engineering stuff. I wouldn't fancy browsing in the overhang - especially since it looks like it has a glass floor.

Bilbo1967 · 09-11-2013, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billi

By which criteria is this library considered to be the largest one in Europe? If by number of books, how many does it have?

Oddly, I can find many references to the new Birmingham Library being "the largest in Europe" but I can't seem to find a single source that explains on what criteria that's based (if anybody else can, I'd be happy to see it).

In terms of the number of books, from here;

Quote:

It will transform the city’s library services and become a major cultural destination, housing Birmingham’s world-class collections of archives, photography and rare books as well as a million printed volumes, the largest number held by any public library in the UK.

Hmm, edited to add this snippet from here;

Quote:

The interior spans an area of 29,000 sq m, making it the largest public library in Europe

So it looks like it's floor space that's the criterion they're using for that claim.

Billi · 09-11-2013, 07:31 AM

Thanks for finding out! To be honest, I was a little bit surprised by the claim of the largest library in Europe. So I made a very quick and superficial search via wikipedia. They listed Moscow, St Petersburg, Paris and London as the biggest libraries but they went by the number of books or articles (books + magazines + ...).
Nevertheless, it is an impressive library and you can be proud to have it in your area!

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09-10-2013, 06:41 PM	#47
Grace Elliot Groupie Posts: 186 Karma: 1317334 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: London Device: kindle	Seeing buildings like Seattle Public Library, really makes you hope the architects know their engineering stuff. I wouldn't fancy browsing in the overhang - especially since it looks like it has a glass floor.

09-11-2013, 07:31 AM	#49
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	Thanks for finding out! To be honest, I was a little bit surprised by the claim of the largest library in Europe. So I made a very quick and superficial search via wikipedia. They listed Moscow, St Petersburg, Paris and London as the biggest libraries but they went by the number of books or articles (books + magazines + ...). Nevertheless, it is an impressive library and you can be proud to have it in your area!

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