Alternatywne biblioteki w przestrzeni publicznej współczesnych miast świata (od natury do kultury)

Around the world, creative exponents of various disciplines (artists, architects, designers), social activists and members of local communities have challenged stereotypes in thinking and acting, by proposing and implementing experimental ideas of alternative libraries in place of traditional ones closed inside a building or contemporary, open and modernised libraries. In their concepts and artistic executions (installations, actions), they have referred to various traditions of public art. Untypical locations of the libraries within natural scenery, on beaches, in parks, etc. and in public and social spaces of modern cities have redefined the notion of a library, changed its form and content, and given it a new meaning and function. Alternative libraries have specific i.e. artistic, educational, social, ecological or intervention programmes, their main idea being the openness to new experiences and to people.They also follow certain rules: they operate by action and interaction, based on the process of interchange, they are self-service, free-of-charge libraries. Shelves of books, freed from the walls of buildings, or various artistic small architecture projects which serve the idea of borrowing and reading books in publicly accessible places, have transformed those places into intellectually inspiring areas. Selected alternative library models have been analysed with regard to the following interpretive factors: A library in natural space, Libraries on beaches, An open public library as an example of radical democracy, A library as ‘a sculpture of knowledge’, Street libraries (the idea and practice of bookcrossing, small free libraries), A library as an object of modern art.