ABSTRACT
On January 6, 2014, the day of the “soft opening” of the new Billings Public Library, Jaci Webb of the Billings Gazette reported that by noon, five hundred people had already strolled through the new library building, “most of them wide-eyed and grinning.” The new library lines the street edges on the corner of 6th Avenue and 28th Street, centrally located in a section of Billings where the grid is rotated almost 45 degrees relative to the cardinal directions. Despite its simple form and a structure inspired by pole barns, and its lone presence on a city block, the Billings Public Library is indeed conceived as a city building with citizens in mind. Low velocity air distribution systems often require air supply apertures with larger surfaces than high velocity air supply grilles. Other types of recycled wood paneling are used throughout the interiors, accentuating and giving identity to the most precious spaces.
