The Baltimore Library Project, a public/private collaboration between the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and Baltimore City Public Schools. The Weinberg Foundation selected elementary/middle school libraries in high-poverty neighborhoods where many students face academic challenges, to design, build, equip, and staff new libraries for kids to learn in and grow in.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary Library
This narrow library was chocked full of windows. To cover the windows in an artistic and scientific way, we had custom room darkening shades printed with black and white etchings of crustaceans, sea life, birds, fossils, eggs, and butterflies.
Over nearly all of the bookcases, wallpaper that says “Welcome to the Library” in 27 different languages added a nice pop of color and texture to the space. This patterned wallpaper because an overarching theme across all of the Weinberg Libraries.
These spaces were designed in tandem with local interior design and architecture firms, Kirk Designs and JRS Architects. Working on such large scale graphics in spaces that were completely gutted and rebuilt, meant that site visits to each library became an integral part of this fun project.
The following schools were chosen and updated over a 5 year period.
Moravia Park Elementary Library
Southwest Baltimore Charter School Library
Thomas Johnson Elementary & Middle School Library
Arlington Elementary & Middle School Library
Elmer A. Henderson-Hopkins Elementary Library
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary Library
Harford Heights Elementary Library
Morrell Park Elementary Library
Windsor Hills Elementary & Middle School Library
Commodore John Rodgers Elementary & Middle School Library
Westport Academy Library
Arlington Elementary & Middle School Library
The barrel vaulted ceiling, that divides the library in half, was a fun opportunity to let the imagination run free. Polar bears and pink flamingos punctate a starry nigh sky where the ancient pyramids of Giza and the Arch De Triumph are nestled onto 2 dimensional clouds.
Window shades like at the other libraries, flank both rooms of the library. Without the room darkening shades, the room becomes extremely warm and too bright to see the projections on the smart board and laptops in the space.
Faces of children, representing cultures from around the globe, were printed onto large stretched spandex drum shades and installed over the common reading area as a centerpiece of these libraries.
