Fact Check

Is This the Kansas City Library?

Big buzz about those big books.

by David Mikkelson, Published Jan. 3, 2010


Image courtesy of Flickr / David Lee King


Claim:
A photograph shows a library parking facade lined with giant-sized representations of books.
Rating:
True

About this rating


Our first impulse on viewing a picture like the one displayed below was to check to see whether Worth1000 (now DesignCrowd) was holding a photo editing contest in which entrants are challenged to create images of buildings that visually represent their functions:

However, no such search was necessary, as background information about this photograph was easily located on the website of the Kansas City Public Library. As noted on that site, these 25-foot-high representations of 22 different books (set between glass-enclosed stairwells made to look like bookends) are known as the "Community Bookshelf" and do indeed line one wall of Central Library's parking garage in downtown Kansas City:

The Community Bookshelf is a striking feature of Kansas City's downtown. It runs along the south wall of the Central Library's parking garage on 10th Street between Wyandotte Street and Baltimore Avenue. The book spines, which measure approximately 25 feet by 9 feet, are made of signboard mylar. The shelf showcases 22 titles reflecting a wide variety of reading interests as suggested by Kansas City readers and then selected by The Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees.

For those curious types who can't make out the all of the titles displayed on Community Bookshelf, we note that they are:

 

 


By David Mikkelson

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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