New City Centre Library in Surrey

Photo: City Centre Library before final completion, by Travelling Times.

Written up in arch daily, Surrey's new City Centre Library is scheduled to open on September 24. Located next to SFU Surrey, it was designed by Bing Thom Architects.

Thom believes that contemporary libraries must be sanctuaries and people's universities, as well as meeting places. (Sun, Aug 17). This flagship of the Surrey fleet certainly looks the part.

Input on the design involved the use of Twitter and Facebook, and much of that came from young people, who wanted the library to be a fun place. The collection of 100,000 items for loan will include 20 e-readers, along with the books, CDs and DVDs, says deputy chief librarian Melanie Houlden.

Wouldn't it be intriguing to borrow a knowledgeable person instead of a book sometimes? That's a new service the library will provide. As the National Post reports, to learn more about a specific religion, a disability, or an experience such as immigration, patrons will be able to check out one of the volunteers the library has already lined up. Interviewing can take place in the library cafe.

A central feature of the building is the oculus, a central oval skylight that resembles a sundial. The presence of a sundial in the ultra-modern City Centre Library underlines how contemporary libraries are repositories of knowledge from our common human past.