A museum of contemporary art in the early 1990s, a hotel at the end of the century, and a military museum a few years ago. Over the years, the proposals changed about what to do with the old steam mill (Paromlin) located in the Zagreb city centre. However, now it seems that the idea which first appeared in 2012, to turn the mill into a library, will become a reality, reports Večernji List on November 11, 2018.
The tender for the architectural design of the library has been published. Since the area covers nearly 20,000 square metres, the bidders will have until 31 January 2019 to submit their proposals. The best of them will receive almost 400,000 kuna from the city authorities, and the 300 million kuna reconstruction project will start.
Interested designers will have an opportunity to visit the currently dilapidated mill and see what needs and can be done. They will work following detailed guidelines about how the library, which will not open before 2025 and possibly much later, will eventually look like.
In front of the entrance, there will be a small square and it should provide access to the library which will be open 24 hours a day. “The main entrance will be open to users round the clock and equipped with a wireless internet network, benches and devices for people to return the borrowed library books,” say the guidelines.
At the entrance to the library, the citizen will be able to get all the information at information counters, as well as on large information screens, while those arriving on bikes will have a roofed parking lot. The library will have a special reading room for the daily and weekly press, computers so that the news can be read on the internet, as well as an informal meeting area connected to the cafeteria.
The new city library will be pet-friendly, at least in one part, since the entrance will provide a “pet-friendly area while the owners are in the library.” It will also include an exhibition area, conference halls and a restaurant. Toddlers will have a playing area, while preschoolers will have available 4,500 picture books, 11,000 books and a creative corner. Teenagers will be provided with desks with computers and media players for 10,147 DVDs, 1,444 CDs and 1,500 old VHS tapes, while adults will have a concentration area with individual seating.
The library will also feature something called the gadget garage. This will be an area with the latest technology available, such as mobile phones and IT equipment, where users will be able to test them. There will also be a room for listening to music, with “individual seating areas with headphones and players.”
For more news on Zagreb, visit our special section.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Mateja Šobak).
