The Library: Our True Companion.

English , Literature - جہانِ ادب , Snippets , / Friday, October 18th, 2024

Download this post as PDF

Books are your true companions. Engage with them, as they do not hurt your heart. During my student years, I had the opportunity to spend days from 9 AM to 9 PM at the City Central Library in Berlin while preparing for exams, and that’s how I earned my degree. If there is a beautiful and peaceful place in every city in Germany, it is the library, where you can spend time with books, unaware of the outside world. This too is a kind of intoxication, the pleasure of which can only be understood by those who love libraries. Today, I present a description and images of the library in Stuttgart, Germany, under the title “The Library: Our True Companion.” In a few days, I will return with details of another library from a different city.

Stuttgart, the sixth-largest city in Germany, is the capital of the Baden-Württemberg province. Notably, it is the most densely populated city in Germany, with approximately 3,053 people residing per square kilometer. The population of the city center is around 2.8 million, making it one of the largest urban centers in the country.

According to international library laws, if you have a thousand books, you can consider that room your private library. The new city library in Stuttgart presents a solid cube during the day and transforms into a large illuminated sculpture at night. Construction of this new central library began on June 5, 2009, and it opened to the public on October 24, 2011. The building stands approximately 40 meters tall, featuring two underground and nine above-ground floors, and is a masterpiece. It covers a total area of 20,200 square meters, with about 11,500 square meters allocated for hosting various programs.

The “heart” of the library is a four-story high room, measuring 14 meters in height, width, and depth, adorned with small windows, and illuminated with glass blocks on the ceiling. The total cost of this library was around 80 million euros, of which 4 million was spent on interior decoration. The city’s government requested designs from architects, and 235 architects participated in the competition. The unanimous decision of the jury awarded the project to Korean architect Eun Young Yi. She and her 600 students worked on this project, and their architectural artistry is captivating people worldwide. It is estimated that around two million individuals benefit from this library each year.

Despite all these features, it is not the largest library in Germany, as the size of a library is measured not by the height of its building but by the number of its books. However, when you view the Stuttgart library up close, its beautiful and unforgettable reflection—crafted from a blend of glass blocks and concrete—will captivate your eyes. This city library is one of the most modern in Europe, housing over half a million subjects in books, print media, and catalogs, which can be borrowed for reading or educational purposes. Additionally, the library features a sound studio equipped with electronic devices, a workshop hall for children, and much more.

Inside the library, books are arranged in a circular design. For a nominal fee, the doors are open to every student and book lover—students can obtain an annual card at a discounted fee and not only borrow books but also spend hours studying peacefully. With internet and Wi-Fi access, computers, laptops, printers, and scanners are readily available. If you feel hungry, there is also a separate canteen within the library.

Besides this library, Stuttgart has many others, but an interesting aspect is the two library buses. One bus, named “Max,” contains five thousand books and parks in front of different primary schools daily for students to benefit from. The second library bus, named “Morris,” also has five thousand books aimed at kindergarten children. It is stationed in front of kindergartens in the morning and moves to various parts of the city in the evening, fostering a love for reading among young children.