Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, Yah!

We like it when our readers travel and keep their eyes open. So, a big shout out to Andy for giving us the heads up on something we really should have been all over: the grand opening of Amsterdam’s new public library, the OBA (that’s Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, for those of you keeping score at home). The Bibliotheek opened up for business on 7.7.07 and it’s typically Dutch, by which I mean it’s modern and gleaming, and by all accounts function follows form wonderfully. You’ll see what I mean if you look through Andy’s pictures. Where else but in Amsterdam would they put high-tech bean bag chairs in the library? Honestly. It looks like the perfect place to start in on some stoned reading and then just fall asleep. The only mistake I can see is that the building looks a lot like the Borg Cube when it’s lit up at night, which will probably lead to about 10,000 American pothead tourist bug-outs a year.

More for those interested: On its official website, the library says it will serve about 7,000 people a day; Fans of Jorge Luis Borges will be interested to know that the library appears to be organized roughly in circles; and there is a hilariously overwrought video featuring the uniforms that the staff of the OBA are wearing here.