The Brooklyn Heights Interim Library is located in the existing Church of Our Lady of Lebanon. The project was initiated by the temporary move of the Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Heights Branch to the Church while the permanent library is being constructed. The design strategy is simple: to maximize the openness of the existing hall while still providing private spaces at the librarian staff area and the Multi-Purpose Room. The solution is a single translucent “worm” wall—a "book worm" that bellies out at the ends to create private working and gathering spaces with access to light and fresh air and then bellies in at the middle to create a large, shared open space for reading, studying, and browsing books. The lower portion of the worm wall contains book shelves and the wall above is comprised of translucent “panelite” panels and a text graphic of Walt Whitman’s poem, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” Whitman’s poem creates a background of floating text for the activities that take place in the library reading area and a text filter through which to see the transmission of light and views from the private spaces of the staff offices and the library meeting room.
