Halifax Central Library

Halifax Central Library
General information
Type	Public library
Address	5440 Spring Garden Road Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 1E9
Coordinates	44°38′34″N 63°34′31″W / 44.6429°N 63.5753°W / 44.6429; -63.5753
Construction started	2012
Opened	13 December 2014
Cost	$57.6 million
Owner	Halifax Public Libraries
Technical details
Floor count	5
Floor area	11,000 m2 (120,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Schmidt Hammer Lassen Fowler Bauld & Mitchell
Website
halifaxpubliclibraries.ca

The Halifax Central Library is a public library in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street in Downtown Halifax. It serves as the flagship library of the Halifax Public Libraries, replacing the Spring Garden Road Memorial Library.^[1]

A new central library was discussed by library administrators for several decades and approved by the regional council in 2008. The architects, a joint venture between local firm Fowler Bauld and Mitchell and Schmidt Hammer Lassen of Denmark, were chosen in 2010 through an international design competition. Construction began later that year on a prominent downtown site that had been a parking lot for half a century.

The new library opened in December 2014 and has become a highly popular gathering place. In addition to a book collection significantly larger than that of the former library, the new building houses a wide range of amenities including cafés, an auditorium, and community rooms. The striking architecture is characterised by the fifth floor's cantilever over the entrance plaza, a central atrium criss-crossed by staircases, and the building's transparency and relationship to the urban context.

The library won a Lieutenant Governor's Design Award in Architecture for 2014 and a Governor General's Medal in Architecture in 2016.