Walkabout 1- Public Spaces- Maddy Oritt

Our first walkabout assignment was the Urban Room at the Library. I’ve spent a lot of time at the downtown library, but we learned a lot from experiencing it through the walkabout. We arrived at about 1:45 p.m. this afternoon after riding Trax from the stadium. It was a warm day with a clear sky. The weather greatly affects the Urban Room at the library because it is surrounded on three sides by glass. Natural light floods the area, making it almost like an extension of the outdoors. It was especially beautiful in the Urban Room today because of the abundance of light and clear air.

As we sat down at a table in the Urban Room and began observing, our group began talking about how, although it is a public place, it is not very conducive to public leisure or lounging. The Urban Room seems to be more a path or a node. Most people who walked through the Urban Room were simply walking through it; few people stopped to sit or look through the stores. Also, the seating in the Urban Room is minimal and not the most comfortable. We later talked to an employee of the Library Store, who noted that there are few tables and chairs because, when they were more abundant, homeless people would be the predominant users of the tables and chairs. The store proprietors felt hurt their business, so many were removed, leaving only a few in front of the cafe and coffee shop.

The woman at the Library Store, who has been a Friend of the Library for a long time and has witnessed the great changes and dynamics of the library, said the shops lining the Urban Room are not doing as well as they had originally expected. She also said there is high turnover in the shops which locate there, because of the difficulty of doing good business. This ties back to the Urban Room being more of a passing-through point than a destination or a stay-for-a-while location.

I have never been to the library solely to spend time in the Urban Room, so it was a good experience to slow down and take in the dynamic of the Room itself and how it is similar to and differs from the rest of the library.