Today we went over to walk around the new Hunt Library on NC State’s Centennial Campus. The facility is about 2/3rds open with many features coming soon but the grand scale architecture and design is open and ready to amaze.
No – I am not giving them free PR – this place is nothing short of spectacular and a far cry from any library I’ve ever seen. In fact – it is probably a mistake to call it a library at all but sometimes we have to call things a name that places them in any context in our minds. I don’t think it is very different to the first automobile being called a horseless carriage. It wasn’t a bad description but it didn’t really encompass everything that was going on. Same things here with the term Library – yes there are books but that is where the comparison probably ends.
The first thing you notice before you walk into the building is the design but the second once you enter the building is the minimal amount bookshelves – due in no small part to the very large robotic filing system or automated book delivery system. This library also has a game lab, multiple study rooms where you can write on every wall, a media production studio, a creativity studio, maker lab where you can print in 3D and a ton of places to sit, study, read and learn.
The most important thing? The coffee shop downstairs had Howling Cow Ice Cream. Unfortunately they were closed for the holiday weekend.
