(Photos courtesy of Flickr.com)

My observation at Portland's Central Library yesterday resulted in some themes: value of learning, rules and security, and aesthetic space. There were many people around- seniors, students, kids, parents- and as I was standing outside a woman with a guitar walked up to me and asked "Are you interested in being in a play in the role of Maid Marion?" I told her "Probably not". Later inside I observed twp men exchanging vegetables; one of them had a poster board sign saying "The bottom line is Jesus". Both of these experiences emphasize the library as an important community space used by diverse groups of people. The value of learning was clear: the library, which was renovated in 1997, holds 1.5 million books and other materials. The exterior of the building and benches along the sides are carved with names of writers and philosophers, such as Dickens, Tolstoy, Thucydides, Alexandre Dumas. The black granite stairs are carved with single words like explore, hope, and imagine. The children's section has an enclosed story theater with windows, computer stations, shelves of foreign language picture books written in Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and more. One feature in that section is a poem called HOME by Franta Bass, written on a set of miniture book spines:

"I look. I look into the wide world. I look to the south, to the north, to the east, to the west toward my home, the city where I was born. City, my city, I will gladly return to you."

There was an unspoken yet very present emphasis on security here. Library rules for patron behavior were posted in each area, and a few security guards were placed at various posts. I also noticed security cameras in each room. I wonder what prompted all this? Finally, the entire library was beautifully designed with rich color, with a good balance of wood and marble. The atmosphere is very spacious and clean, with lots of natural light flowing in the large, arched windows. Big marble columns on every floor separated the space into smaller areas. The majestic, winding, open staircase leads up to the upper two levels. The children's space is friendly and has a life-size bronze tree sculpture reaching up and out toward the ceiling. One has the overall feeling of being a small person in a large and important universe of knowledge.

I learned that spending time observing a place- even a familiar one- is informative and valuable. It prompted me to think about the values the city of Portland has for its public, and what I'll find in Amsterdam. I took a very systematic approach in my observation, purposefully moving from room to room and working my way up to each floor. Another approach would be to randomly choose spaces within the larger environment, or focus on spaces where more people were gathered in order to interact with them.

Having a heightened sense of place or an ability to carefully observe an area will allow me to discern values and identity issues of various communities in Amsterdam. As I am studying the Muslim women's community, the environment will be a good start, but I will likely focus more on dialogue with others. One issue I will keep in mind - do the values reflected in the physical environment align with the values held by the community I am interacting with?