Posts Tagged ‘ library ’

Digging your scene

Digging your scene

They’re building a new library, it’s going to be shorter than they first said (but still contain the same amount of space – how so?). But despite the planning app not having been submitted as yet, digging has commenced. It’s okay though, it’s not building it’s archaeology. The diggaging at the site is in the hands of proper archaeologists and everything: “Plans held in the Central Library’s Archive already gave us pretty accurate ideas as to what would be uncovered during the excavations, and so far there have been no surprises. The excavations have revealed a former canal arm and extensive remains of Winfield’s Cambridge Street Works which was built in the 1830s. Robert Winfield was principally a brass manufacturer and the works produced items such as brass bedsteads, but also carried out metal rolling, gas fitting, carpentry and wire manufacture.” Is there a time delay before “digging” is archeology? Less than a hundred years doesn’t seem worth getting Baldrick and his Time Team involved — especially when you’ve got the plans — I just couldn’t work out what the fuss was about. I’ve searched hard for a conspiracy theory — digging to make the site look in progress...

Read more »

Take me low

Take me low

Cliff Richards is no doubt upset, as the “Cliff Richards’s Millennium Flame” has been pulled down so they can build the underground library in Centenary Square. Photo by davidsesa

Read more »

New Library work starts

New Library work starts

(Photo by Andy Mabbett) No remarks about how the fencing is eerily reminiscent of the design.

Read more »

Runners, look what’s going to be there, perhaps

Runners, look what’s going to be there, perhaps

Over on Brumblr it’s been noticed that the route for this year’s Brum Half Marathon has been released. It’s flatter and therefore faster (in keeping with it being part of an official championships) and this time mainly does the Perhsore Road rather than any part of North Brum. What’s odd (apart from irrelevantly calling it the “race against climate change” again) is the addition of “visitor attractions” to the map. Are the runners likely to care? Landmarks for navigation I could understand. But even if you think that the attractions are for the benefit of spectators, the addition of the “visitor attraction” which is the site where building hasn’t even started to begin, that’s still a car park and some shrubs: Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch! Come, it says, gaze at our future through tired eyes. You too can squint at the badly jpeg compressed text served up as a PDF on the race website.

Read more »

New Library design, a verted ziggurat

New Library design, a verted ziggurat

Seems it wasn’t the blocky and pointy nature of Central Library that make it “an eyesore” — as the design revealed today for the new Library in Centenary Square, is nothing if not blocky and a bit pointy. It also bears a passing resemblance to Brunell Street Car Park: Which is nice, as it’s without doubt my favourite car park. But what’s happening to Cliff Richards’s enternal flame? More at libraryofbirmingham.com

Read more »

The Book for Birmingham – nominations open

To celebrate the National Year of Reading Birmingham Libraries want to capture the city's reading choices and ultimately find the "The Book for Birmingham". You can nominate a book any time up to 17 August 2008.

Read more »

BiNS is mostly by Jon Bounds a Birmingham based social web consultant, producer and writer., You can hire him to work on your social web campaigns or anything really—he's not fussy. Follow him on twitter or drop him an email.

There's also the odd bit of stuff from Danny Smith.

Feel free to send us anything you're interested in - or think we might be.

@onBirmingham – Breaking Brum News on Twitter