A new $31 million, art-wrapped library is poised to open this weekend in the western part of Boynton Beach, marking the 18th location in the Palm Beach County Library System and serving as a cultural and meeting hub in one of the county’s fastest growing communities.
Spanning some 33,000-square-feet, nearly the size of an acre, the Canyon Branch Library will attract people who “want to reconnect back to print,” said Douglas Crane, the Director of the county's Library System.
But the library at the Canyon Town Center, which broke ground in 2022 and situates inside a large public plaza, offers more than just books.
The library boasts the largest meeting room in the system, able to seat more than 300 guests. There’s also a small podcast studio, children’s and teen spaces and a “Maker Space” room that serves as a creative lab equipped with sewing machines, cricut machines and other similar items.
Crane, who is only the fourth library director in the county library system’s 55-year history, said it also meets the demand for more “third places" — common, public areas where people gather away from their home and workplace.
"Libraries serve that function because we are a free space, open to the public. You don't need to pay money to get in, you don't need to buy a cappuccino or anything while you're here," he told WLRN.
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The Canyon Branch Library taps into the high demand for more library services for schools and other institutions surrounding Boynton Beach Boulevard and Lyons Road, one of the fastest growing residential and commercial areas of the county.
Crane underlined the broader role libraries play in supporting literacy, particularly in light of national discussions surrounding book challenges and removals. For the second year in a row, Florida has led the nation with around 4500 book removals. Crane said the Palm Beach County Library System has not removed any books.
Libraries help preserve First Amendment rights to free speech and open access to information because ”professionally, librarians frown on book bans or book challenging and removal of material because we believe that knowledge should be as open and widely accessible as possible,” he said.
”It's up to the individual or in the case of children, their parents or caregivers to have that conversation to decide what they would like," Crane added.
James Larson, the intellectual resources manager, oversees the library’s extensive digital offerings, including eBooks, streaming videos, music, magazines. He is, most importantly, responsible for acquiring books and properly cataloging more than 130,000 items that are of “sufficient public demand” and includes authors of note.
“ We're not as constrained as the public schools. And I hope that remains the case. Certainly,” Larson told WLRN.
“ I don't want to buy materials just to have it be admired on the shelf. I want to make sure that the community either wants it, it is of quality, and it is something that is interesting to them.”
Among the highlights is the county library system’s first-ever drive-up service window, where patrons can drop off materials and get questions answered from their car. The window is equipped with automatic machines inside the building that help staff sort out materials from the pick-up area.
Art, literature shapes the community
The new Boynton Beach library places an emphasis on being a dynamic and immersive space for connection. The philosophy is visible with the art installed onto the pillars in front of the building. More than 70 artists around the world responded to the county’s international call to artists.
The result: a $371,500 public art installation, Opening Minds, by Texas-based artist Brad J. Goldberg, featuring a wide montage of binary codes, famous quotes, and titles of American and world literature that are displayed on six large marble columns at the entrance of the library.
Peek closely, in-between the scattered binary codes are notable movie lines, passages and lyrics inscribed in multiple languages — from Jamaican poet Louise Bennett’s poem “Colonization in Reverse” to the famous line from the film Casablanca: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Elayna Toby Singer, Palm Beach County Director of Art in Public Places, told WLRN there are 400 entries in 13 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Latin, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Dutch, Hebrew, Ancient Egyptian, Italian, German, and Braille.
”And the idea is that it is a prompt. It's an invitation to discover,” Singer said. “And while you have the words in the many languages, in between there are ones and zeros, which represent the binary code and also provides an aesthetic or a visual break between all of the words.”
One meaning, among many, is that the installation, like the library, is a “metaphorical pillar of the community," she said.
The art “lifts our spirit. It makes us feel connected to the place,” she added. “It makes a place come alive in a different way.”
IF YOU GO
What: Grand opening of the Canyon Branch Library
When: Saturday, January 11 at 10 a.m
Where: 915 Senator Joe Abruzzo Ave, Boynton Beach, FL, 33472
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