The brand-spanking new Halifax Central Library opened its doors to the public for the first time this morning. This building has been about five years (and 57 million dollars) in the making. I’m so excited that it’s finally here! And so were the many, many people (hundreds? thousands?) who turned out for the grand opening this morning.
You may recognize this library from such features as CNN’s 10 buildings to pay attention to in 2014, and now you can see just how awesome it is in real life.
The doors finally opened at 10 a.m. after music, speeches, and a community ribbon-cutting (with 300 pairs of safety scissors). There were also jugglers, balloon-twirlers, and hot fresh donuts leading up to this moment.
Look how many people there are! Nope, that’s not a mall on the second-to-last Saturday before Christmas — it’s our new library. Apparently it was busy all day long.
Honestly, it was so busy and I was so focused on taking in the big picture — 129,000 square feet, five storeys, a 300-seat auditorium, two cafés, umpteen meeting rooms and multimedia spaces and kids’ areas and spots to curl up with a book, plus a rooftop patio and green space — that I forgot to take any pictures of the books.
However! I know I’ll be back to the new library in the next few days, and I’ll post more pictures then.
Put the Book Down 