Vancouver library receives New Landmark award

Other major honors and awards for the Vancouver Community Library:

o American Institute of Architects Washington Honor Award, 2011.

o Top 10 Children’s Libraries, Livability Magazine, 2012.

o American Architecture Award for Distinguished Buildings, Chicago Athenaeum/Museum of Architecture and Design in Chicago, 2012.

o Merit Award for way-finding design from Society for Experiential Graphic Design, 2014.

o National award for library design presented jointly by the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association, April 2015.

It’s an early-education center that has added vitality to downtown Vancouver.

It’s a community gathering place that helps people find a job.

It’s a tourist draw that offers learning resources for kids in low-income neighborhoods.

Those are just some of the attributes that have earned the Vancouver Community Library its latest national award. Library Journal has selected the downtown Vancouver branch as one of its 11 nationally notable libraries for 2015. The publication’s New Landmark Library Award is presented every four years; the 2015 competition drew more than 80 entries.

Most of the library’s previous national-level awards have had the terms “design” and “architecture” in the citations. This honor is different, said Nancy Tessman, executive director of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.

While design is among the criteria, the award “goes beyond design to celebrate the positive impact an excellent library can have on the communities it serves,” Tessman said in a news release. “We are especially proud to have been recognized for the long-term contribution this facility is making to the quality of life in this area.”

Library Journal evaluated the submissions on six points of excellence: design and construction; response to community context and constraints; sustainability; functionality; innovation; and beauty and delight.

Atrium a beacon

As far as design and beauty go, the building’s atrium continues to be a beacon. About 200 feet long with floor-to-ceiling south-facing glass, it welcomes 1,800 visitors a day to what’s been called a “drawer full of knowledge.”

The four-story-high atrium also serves a more practical role in the library’s lighting and heating/cooling systems. Each floor is open to the atrium to take advantage of natural daylight. The atrium also provides a natural cooling effect in the summer; heat inside the building rises and is exhausted at the top.

Jack Burkman has been a fan of the project from several perspectives.

“I served on the library board for seven years and was the chair when we did this,” Burkman said of the library that opened in July 2011. “It was one of my greatest moments of pride.”

Now Burkman is a member of the Vancouver City Council, and he calls the library at 901 C St. “one of our community’s most valued and treasured gems.”

“I refer a lot of people there,” Burkman said. “I’ve been in the computer room a number of times. It’s a place where people who don’t have computers can do job searches.”

Burkman was one of the community leaders who supported the award submission by Seattle architecture firm The Miller Hull Partnership.

Lee Rafferty, executive director of Vancouver’s Downtown Association, wrote: “The library has brought a new vibrancy to our downtown. From the day it opened, our downtown pedestrian traffic saw a very positive uptick.”

Steven Webb, superintendent of Vancouver Public Schools, noted that 13 schools in the urban core — where up to 80 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals — have family-community resource centers. Their partners include the Vancouver Community Library, Webb wrote, and, “the new library includes a number of educational enhancements.”

When it comes to education, the children’s area offers one more perspective for Burkman.

“I have six grandkids,” the city councilor said. “I’ve taken them to the early learning center, and it’s hard to get them out of there.”