The Salt Lake City Public Library was originally housed in the Salt LakeCity and County Building in 1898. Thanks to a donation of land and money by a John Quackenbos Packard in 1900, a new library was built in downtown Salt Lake City; the building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This building remained in use until the library outgrew it by the early 1960s. The city library was then moved to a new home across from the City and County Building at the intersection of 500 South and 200 East. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 28, 1962, and the building was dedicated on October 30, 1964. In 1965, the old library was renovated into the Hansen Planetarium, funded by a donation of $400,000 from Beatrice M. Hansen.
1994 hostage incident
On March 7, 1994, a gunman took several hostages in a conference room on the second floor of the old main branch building. The library was evacuated and SWAT teams were called in during a six-hour siege, which ended in the death of the gunman and the freeing of the hostages.
Move to the current location
After celebrating the library's 100th anniversary in early 1998, an $84 million library bond was approved to relocate the library in a new building, north half a block, to its current location. The firm Moshe Safdie and Associates partnered with local architecture firm, VCBO Architecture to design the building, which opened to the public on February 8, 2003. The former building in Library Square houses The Leonardo, a museum of science, technology and creativity. On September 15, 2006, a small bomb exploded in the third floor of the main building. No one was hurt, and the damage sustained by the building was a broken window. Eastbound traffic on the streets of 400 South and 200 East was closed as 400 people were forced to evacuate.
Suicides and attempted suicides
There have been several public suicides at the library since its relocation. In April 2008, a woman jumped from the third floor balcony inside the library and died. In July 2005, a woman jumped from the roof of the building to her death. In March 2011, a woman jumped from the fourth floor inside the building and died. In April 2012, a man jumped from the balcony inside the library to his death. On June 10, 2013, at approximately 4pm, a 21-year-old man jumped to his death from the roof, prompting the closure of the library for the remainder of the day. On November 13, 2013, at approximately 4:15pm, a 21-year-old man was witnessed jumping from the roof of the building. The man survived the fall and was taken to LDS Hospital for his injuries. The event prompted the closure of the library for the remainder of the day.
Features
The Salt Lake City main library covers an area of in a five-story tall, wedge-shaped building. The library's collection comprises over 500,000 books, subscriptions to over 60 newspapers and magazines, 163 internet-capable computers. The structure includes of concrete, and of glass, including a five-story curved glass outer wall. Designed by the same architect, the downtown Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library shares a similar design—most clearly apparent in the main foyer and the sweeping outer facade. Library Square, a landscaped and paved plaza, encompasses the building's footprint. Originally, much of what is now landscaped open space had been planned to be covered by outbuildings, but MayorRocky Anderson asked for these to be left out in favor of creating a public park. Several shops, and the studios of radio stationKCPW-FM occupy the Square. The Square itself is paved with limestone from Israel. Upon entering the five story building, one enters the "Urban Room", which has the same limestone paving as the square. The room extends upward for all five floors and ends with a skylight of. More shops line one side of the Urban Room. A rooftop garden completes the structure. It is planted with trees, grasses, flowering bulbs and various perennial plants, as well as supporting beehives. The whole library depends on natural lighting, reducing the need of lights in the library. A huge five story glass wall provides daylight. Other features of the library include:
Fireplaces on four of the floors and were designed to resemble a column of fire when viewed from 200 East and 400 South.
A "lens" on the south side of the building, which helps to warm the building during the winter, and saves on heating costs.
A coffee shop with a "private staircase" provides direct access to the Young Adult's Section.
A children's library.
A spiral "grand staircase" and three glass elevators.
Perhaps the world's largest graphic novel collection in a public library. This is due, in part, to the former Night Flight Comics, once located in Library Square, and donor to the Library.
A zine collection of about 1,500 zines, 15 subscriptions, and reference books.
The library received Library Journal's 2006 "Library of the Year" award.
