Millennium Library (Winnipeg)

Winnipeg's Millennium Library

Interior reading terrace

The Millennium Library is the main branch of the Winnipeg Public Library located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was known as the Centennial Library from 1977 until 2005. The library is located at 251 Donald St, and serves approximately 5,000 visitors each day.^[1]

The four storey, 189,000-square-foot (17,600 m²)^[2] library boasts a Local History Room, public art, information displays, a grand staircase, as well as access to the Winnipeg Walkway system. The Human Bean Coffee & Tea and the Best of Friends Gift Shop are also situated within the building.^[1]

History

The library was opened in 1977 as the Centennial Library. The library opened to the public on 16 March 1977, and the official opening took place on 4 May 1977. ^[3]

Started in 2003^[4] and completed in 2005, the $21 million^[5] redevelopment of Winnipeg's main library branch involved the addition of 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) of new space, construction of a new fourth floor and renovations throughout the existing 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m²) library.^[2] The library now features a new Reading Terrace with a four storey high solar glass wall, positioned alongside a new grand staircase, along with two new glass elevators,^[2] and a passive solar wall on the southeast face of the building.^[4] The Millennium Library opened on November 8, 2005^[6] after $18 million of renovations were constructed over a two-year period. The work was completed a year late and $4 million over budget.^[5]

In 2013, Toronto-Dominion Bank presented a $150,000 gift to be used towards renovations of Millennium Library’s TD New and Noted area. The renovations will include open-concept space, as well as direct access to Millennium Library Park.^[7]

First Floor

Memberships, Checkin, Returns, Holds, Checkout, Self-Checkout, Children's Services, Teen Central, Aboriginal Reading-in-the-Round, Includes New & Noted, Adult Fiction, New Fiction and Non-Fiction, Express Bestsellers, Paperbacks, Magazines, Express Computers, Winnipeg Transit Kiosk, Security desk.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Second Floor

DVDs, CDs, Talking Books, Books on CD & Cassette, Large Print, Biographies, Scores, Services for People with Special Needs, Carol Shields Auditorium, Buchwald Room, Anhang Room, Meeting Room 1, Meeting Room 2, Tutorial Room A, Tutorial Room B.^[12][13]

Third Floor

Millennium Library Local History Room (Resources on Winnipeg and Manitoba history, Henderson Directories), Computer Training Lab, Newspapers, Reference Magazines, Microfilm, Vertical Files, Stack Reference, Copiers.^[11][12][14]

Fourth Floor

Non-fiction (000-999), Reference Collection, Government Documents, Computers, Meeting Room 3.^[12][15]

Millennium Library Park

Finished 2012, the park alongside the Millennium Library underwent a $4.3-million reconstruction. The rebuilt plaza has an artificial wetland aerated by a pair of windmills, a wooden walkway built out of sustainably farmed wood, birch trees planted in deep pots, two new pieces of public art, and low fences and a raised floor.^[5]

The park now features five distinct outdoor zones:^[16]

• The Millennium Plaza
• Crossroads Plaza
• The Learning Commons
• The Urban Wetland
• The Jim Pattison Foundation Reading Garden

When the Millennium Library reopened, there was no money left in the budget to rebuild the park.^[5]

Work on the park could not commence until a membrane was built over the parkade below it. Rebuilding the plaza itself was funded equally by all three levels of government. The Winnipeg Arts Council arranged financing for the two pieces of public art: Sentinel Of Truth and emptyful.^[5]

Reconstruction Costs:^[5]

• $2.1 million to rebuild the plaza
• $1.5 million to replace a membrane over the roof of the Millennium Library Parkade
• $575,000 to commission and install "emptyful"
• $90,000 for "Sentinel Of Truth"

The redevelopment plan was spearheaded by the Winnipeg Library Foundation.^[17]

Public Art

The following public art installations are viewable in and around the Millennium Library.^[11]

• Bill Pechet's "emptyful" (Park) - a stainless steel sculpture including water elements^[18]
• Darren Stebeleski's "Sentinel of Truth" (Park) - a wall of weathering steel, covering and protecting bits of text inscribed into stainless steel.^[19]
• Cliff Eyland's "Untitled" (Lobby)
• Nicholas Wade's "Illumination" (Richardson Reading Terrace base)
• Charlie Johnson's "Story Lines" mural (Skywalk)
• J.A. Long's "Andrew Carnegie" portrait (Richardson Reading Terrace)
• Timothy Ray and Dale Amundson's "A.R. or R.A." (Children's Services)

"emptyful", the erlenmeyer flask-shaped fountain, is the most expensive piece of public art in Winnipeg history. It is illuminated by four bands of LED lights at night and uses both water and fog. During the summer, when the fog and water elements will be operational, the fountain is illuminated in blue, green and purples hues. During the winter, when the water elements are not operational, the artwork is lit up with reds, oranges and yellows.^[5]

• 

  emptyful (in Winter)

• 

  Sentinel of Truth

• 

  Cliff Eyland's "Untitled", in the lobby

• 

  Detail of Charlie Johnson's "Story Lines" mural

External links

• Winnipeg Public Library — Millennium Library
• Winnipeg Library Foundation — Millennium Library

References

Coordinates: 49°53′31″N 97°08′31″W / 49.892°N 97.142°W / 49.892; -97.142