Library plaza is one for the books

Plenty of open space, two new retail shops, a small amphitheater and a soothing, cool fountain with a dry-feet-are-optional policy highlight the new outdoor plaza around the Main Salt Lake City Library.

In a special "Outside Open" event Friday, hundreds of people enjoyed the atmosphere and music on the south side of the library, 210 E. 400 South.

The celebration isn't over yet. Today, the "Juneteenth Festival" will take place during daytime hours at the plaza, considered a new cultural hub for downtown.

A favorite feature for the young at the plaza is the water fountain. At only 10 inches deep or less, the water is sure to be a summer favorite. One child on roller blades successfully crossed through the fountain Friday, and some adults couldn't resist wading to cool off. The pleasant noise of the moving water also drowns out much of the surrounding urban noise.

The library's "Crescent Wall," which extends from the building's fifth floor rooftop garden, is now open and can be walked in either direction. It offers spectacular views of the mountains, though it does feature just over 100 steps to negotiate.

"I love it. It was fantastic," Linda Miller from Bountiful said after walking down the wall at the library, which opened four months ago.

However, her husband, Lloyd Miller, had a different view.

"As an engineer, I've got to wonder how many smaller libraries they could have built for just the cost of the walkable wall," he said.

"This new library is radical," one teenager said as he walked across the new plaza.

Retailers like the new space as well. Night Flight Comics has moved its satellite store from inside the library to underneath the Crescent Wall.

"We've had a lot of people come in," said Josh Stasinos, assistant store manager.

Your Planet, an environmentally friendly gift store, also is now open under the wall. KCPW Radio and the Salt Lake City Film Center are expected to open there later this summer. Then, there's still room for a few more shops.

And don't forget to go inside the new library, where some of the practices go against traditional library customs. For example, "quiet as a library" used to be synonymous with "quiet as a mouse." But now patrons may have to search for a quiet place to study as some traditionally silent places may no longer be so.