Bookless a Hit

Bookless by the numbers:

• 1 day
• 3 floors
• 12 QR codes
• 100 artists
• 241 tweets (and counting)
• 749 pictures taken at the Photo Booth
• 5112 attendees
• $28,700 raised

Did you take pictures at Bookless? Add them to our Bookless MPL Flickr pool.

Special thanks to:

...organizers Trent Miller and Courtney Davis for bringing this amazing event to life
...library staff and volunteers who helped them
...the artists who transformed our library and graciously worked with event attendees to create memorable interactive art or explain the creative process
...Erinn Batykefer, Laura Damon-Moore, and Christina Endres of The Library As Incubator Project
...event musicians and DJs who inspired some creative dancing
...food and beverage providers Dobra Tea, The Great Dane, Merchant, and Underground Food Collective
...painting wall sponsor Dorn Hardware
...everyone who spread the word on Facebook and Twitter and through the media
...everyone who stopped by!

As an attendee of both events, and a library staffer, it was thrilling to hear how many conversations spontaneously began in reaction to people's memories of the Central Library, their hopes for the future library, and the amazing transformation that took place in the library's space.  I spoke with people who would miss their old workspaces but were looking forward to new ones, people who grew up visiting the children's room and Wildflower in her fountain garden on the second floor,  people whose memories of the library spanned over 40 years, and people who were visiting the Central Library for the first time.  I also heard a lot of excitement over what would be in the new library - more technology, lots of reading and collaboration space, new spaces for art, and a floor layout that will create quiet and active zones while promoting the discovery of new library services and collections.  As I walked through the building for what might be the last time before construction begins, I was already anticipating my first walk through the new library in 2013, and the new conversations I'll be having the day we open the doors to our new library.