Can Joint-Use Libraries Bridge the 'Town-Gown' Divide?

When representatives of Virginia Beach Public Library and Tidewater Community College met to discuss building a joint-use library, they set about by listing every single reason why one library would never be big enough for the both of them. Students need quiet and seclusion to study and Tinder. Parents need bright, centralized areas where their kids can go bonkers. The city and college agreed to disagree.

Planners from the city and college didn’t leave it at that, though. Committees considered each conflict in turn until staffers from the city and college felt that there weren’t any outstanding questions left, according to Library Journal. Built for $43 million (with the college picking up 80 percent of the cost), the library features study-focused spaces along its second floor and popular-interest and kid-geared areas on its first floor.