Fun Facts about the Main Library

• Square feet: 300,000 sq. ft.
• Length of the Non-fiction area: From beginning to end, the non-fiction area on the 3rd floor is as long as a football field.
• Square footage of the Grand Reading Room: 4,500 sq ft

Architecture

• Building designer: Robert A. M. Stern
• Style: Building designer describes the style as "modern classical."
• Square feet: 300,000
• Building exterior: Faced with Alabama limestone, features Ionic columns, and echoes other historic downtown buildings like the State Capitol and the War Memorial Complex.
• Building interior: Floors are Georgia marble.

Art at the Main Library

In 1998, prior to the passage of the city's percent for public art ordinance, the Public Library chose to allocate $600,000 of its construction budget to public art. Artists were selected through national and local calls for artists by a collaborative process involving the Library, Architect Robert A.M. Stern, a project manager, an art design review committee, and the Metro Nashville Arts Commission. As a result, Nashville's Main Library includes six integrated public artworks, five posters created by local artists, and photographs by five local photographers - all of which enhance the library user's experience of this beautiful modern classical building.

Exterior

• Foliated Scroll Decorative Panels
  (Cast Aluminium) by Kent Bloomer
  Location: Library facade, Church Street
  These decorative panels appear beneath windows on the library's front facade. Ornamental metalwork by Bloomer is also featured at the Chicago Public Library.
• La Storia della Terra
  (Marble, Granite, Quartz) by Kubach-Wilmsen Team
  Location: Church Street at 7th Avenue
  La Storia della Terra, which means The Story of the Earth, is a 20 foot tower of stone books commissioned by Judy and Noah Liff. The sculpture was created near Mainz, Germany by the Kubach-Wilmsen Team. There are 26 books, one for each letter of the alphabet. The stones - granite, marble, and quartz - come from all over the world. Five continents are represented.
• Bronze Doors, front of library building
  (Bronze) by Alan LeQuire
  Location: Library Main Entrance, Church Street
  The Library's great bronze doors were created by Alan LeQuire, a Nashville artist. The doors depict the native plants and animals of Tennessee, as well as scenes of people reading and learning. These scenes are visible when the library is open. When the library is closed, you see the reverse side, which is a simple, classical design.

Interior 2nd Floor

• The Prince
  (Mixed Media) by Adrienne Outlaw
  Location: Children's Department
• Children's Chairs for the Seasons
  (Wood, Paint) by DeLoss McGraw, Poetry by W.D. Snodgrass

Interior 3rd Floor

• Nashville, a History Through Maps and Aerial Views
  (Oil on Canvas) by Richard Haas
  Location: Third floor staircase landing
• Library History & Ceiling Mural
  (Oil on Canvas) by Richard Haas
  Location: Grand Reading Room
• A Story of Nashville
  (Hammered Copper Repousse) by Greg Ridley
  Location: Grand Reading Room
  This series of 80 hammered copper repousse (frieze) panels, integrated within the tops of the bookshelves, forms a linear story of Nashville's history from its pre-settlement period to present day. Greg Ridley was an art professor at Fisk University. This project represents the largest number of pieces in a major work by the artist, and its historic journey promises to become a legacy for Nashville and its residents. The panels begin to the East (right) of the main entrance to the Reading Room and continue counterclockwise around the room. Take a grand tour of the panels.