★★★★★ narrm ngarrgu Library
Is there any holier space than the public library? Over the past few months, we have received a stream of rave reviews of narrm ngarrgu Library (and Family Services). The city's newest book-borrowing spot is right next to the Queen Vic Market. It opened its doors in December as part of a glistening new development that also includes a "build-to-rent" residential tower, a "microapartment" hotel, and a gargantuan new market car park. Reviews of the car park—a sinister, subterranean lair with Trumpian golden lifts—are not so glowing. "Used to be that you could just walk out the car park straight into the bloody market…" grumbled one lululemon-jacketed punter on a day we visited. Her fellow shoppers nodded, pursing their lips and communing in silent acknowledgement of a rapidly changing city. Look, there's probably some kind of miserable story that could be squeezed out here about private-public partnerships, housing affordability, and the widespread render-ification of everything, but the fact remains: this library is a triumph.
Wandering through the busy, light-filled rooms for the first time, our mouths dropped open. It's insanely nice! Shiny! There's a public-use fridge and microwave! Filtered water! So many desks! So many books! Pensioners doing a sewing workshop! Beanie-wearing teens canoodling instead of studying! An actually quiet Quiet Room! And the carpets… oh, the carpets. On the second floor, Maree Clarke, the Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung artist, has designed a psychedelic expanse of rug modelled on a watercolour map of the five clans of the Kulin Nations. It fades from sky blue to turquoise to egg-yolk yellow to purple to green, and prompts a strong urge to stop, drop, and roll. A floor up, on a carpet also designed by Clarke, a friendly lizard with bright yellow gills gawps as a battalion of ants wanders towards the inviting Children's Library. We almost planned a pregnancy on the spot, just so we'd have an excuse to spend more time there. On the roof, there’s low, bushy gardens and panoramic views of… grey skyscrapers and construction sites. But there’s also puddles of sunlight and tiny yellow flowers. The State Library's recent turn towards obfuscatory bureaucratic censoriousness is just another reason to skip the Dome and patronise narrm ngarrgu. “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library,” Jorges Luis Borges once said. Well, turns out heaven is a place on earth: 141 Therry St, Melbourne VIC 3000.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Paris End to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.