Pasadena : New Library Has Old Touch
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A nine-week renovation project at Pasadena’s Central Library downtown has yielded a return to the past and a technological step forward.
With $2.4 million raised by the Pasadena Public Library Foundation, the library was closed while workers removed light fixtures from the 1960s and shelving in two rooms from the 1950s.
In their place went brass ceiling lights, reproductions of the original fixtures when the library first opened in 1927, and dark-stained wooden shelves in the two rooms matching the older shelving in the rest of the library.
The historically accurate touches were complemented with a computerized card catalogue system and computer terminals recessed in the circulation desk. A security system at the entryway was also installed and concealed in wood paneling.
“We were trying to provide the most current technology but not in contrast with the building itself,” said librarian Victoria Johnson.
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