num_pages: 240
description: How do you use your local library? Does it arrive at your door on the back of an elephant? Can it float down the river to you? Or does it occupy a phone booth by the side of the road?Public libraries are a cornerstone of modern civilization yet like the books in them libraries face an uncertain future in an increasingly digital world. Undaunted librarians around the globe are thinking up astonishing ways of reaching those in reading need whether by bike in Chicago boat in Laos or donkey in Colombia. Improbable Libraries showcases a wide range of unforgettable never-before-seen images and interviews with librarians who are overcoming geographic economic and political difficulties to bring the written word to an eager audience. Alex Johnson charts the changing face of library architecture as temporary pop-ups rub shoulders with monumental brick-and-mortar structures and many libraries expand their mission to function as true community centers. To take just one the open-air Garden Library in Tel Aviv located in a park near the citys main bus station supports asylum seekers and migrant workers with a stock of 3500 volumes in sixteen different languages. Beautifully illustrated with two hundred and fifty color photographs Improbable Libraries offers a breathtaking tour of the places that bring us together and provide education entertainment culture and so much more. From the rise of the egalitarian Little Free Library movement to the growth in luxury hotel libraries the communal book revolution means youll never be far from the perfect next read.
language: English
title: Improbable Libraries: A Visual Journey to the World's Most Unusual Libraries
publisher: University of Chicago Press