concept
Through the large shop windows on the ground floor and first floor, for the next five years visitors will be able to see the reason why they are now coming over here Motorama to read, write, learn, play and listen: the renovation work in the Gasteig cultural center and the headquarters of the library. Not only does a lot of light shine through the window front into the replacement rooms on the other side of Rosenheimer Straße, but also passers-by glances in. So it is desired: “A library should not take place behind closed doors,” explains Carolin Becker, head of the Am Gastei city library; this will now be split up: 60,000 of the 320,000 media on 8,500 square meters will move to the interim locations in the Motorama (3600 square meters) and 60,000 ins HP8 in Sendling (1800 square meters), the rest in the archive in Oberschleißheim. The very experimental operation in the HP8, which is open seven days a week, is already running, and the grand opening will be celebrated from November 19 to 21. The large roller door in the Motorama will open on November 26th, also followed by an opening weekend.
The new location in Haidhausen’s “Ladenstadt” offers the chance to attract new users. Everyone can enter the Open Library until 10 p.m., even after the service hours (Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; on Sundays and public holidays it is – still – closed) when the advisory staff has long since finished work you only need a library card to borrow. Michaela Gemkow, the director of the Motorama library, is also looking forward to “chance encounters and walk-in customers” from the Hong Kong market and the other shops in the house, which you want to attract to rummage with book-rummaging tables and trendy shelves. And to many children and young people from the surrounding schools; They are the focus of particular attention when selecting books and designing the event and workshop program. In the “Library of 100 Talents” everyone – literary, creative, nature lover – should be supported in their individual talents.
60,000 media, i.e. books, CDs, games, DVDs and current magazines, are moving from the library in Gasteig via Rosenheimer Straße to Motorama.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
tour
Visitors enter the lower floor of the library through a roller door to the right of the Motorama main entrance. Immediately on the right, you can return media to the machine system known from Gasteig or borrow it at two of a total of five terminals. Then it gets colorful in the temporary arrangement, each theme world has its color: “Life” is purple, here are non-fiction books “with everything that makes life more beautiful”, for example a themed shelf with seasonal hits (“knitting Christmas sweaters”) Guests behind the glass doors pushed aside; At a handicraft table, adults will also be able to try out what they have discovered in books. In the little blue shop there is “entertainment”, ie films, music and games on DVDs and CDs. Yellow is the “show room”. Where once luxury cars were presented facing the street, studio chairs are now available for reading or listening to readings. The large children’s area is designed in red.
A color system guides visitors to the respective departments.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
A staircase from the main entrance leads to the upper floor. Here in the green area there used to be a gym; now the brain muscle is trained on the subject of “knowledge”. There are also multifunctional rooms for groups and writing and reading tables for everyone. The large rear space is reserved for the “Update” generation; the boldly arranged books on the show shelf read like the slogans of the young adults: “Eat for the future”, “Simply live sustainably”.
Children and youth area
Otherwise glamorous VIPs walk across red carpets in the flash. In the new city library in Motorama there is also a huge red carpet (even a cozy one) that has been laid for particularly important guests: the children. Your area is furnished with various seating options such as maritime pine wooden houses and a cinema corner with a television. The red zone is intended for all young age groups, including the very little ones who can already hold cardboard picture books or who want to listen to their parents reading aloud. A large part of the children’s literature in the city library is located here. In spite of the many technical gadgets in the city library in the Motorama, the focus is still on reading. This also applies to the directly adjoining room with a wooden reading stand, which is designed for young people and contains a large part of young people’s literature such as fantasy novels and comics.
The youngest visitors to the city library in the Motorama should feel at home on the red carpet in the children’s area.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Gaming
The esports industry is booming. Tournaments, in which people gamble professionally on computers and consoles, are sometimes followed by several million people. The gaming hype is also served in the city library in the Motorama. There are 2000 gaming titles. Most popular game: “FIFA 20” – at least this soccer game was loaned out the most in 2020. The library has acquired six of the latest consoles (Xbox Series S, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch). In an esports arena on the upper floor, you can play in front of an audience and hold esports tournaments. The offer is deliberately aimed not only at children and young people, but at all age groups. For example, the gaming topic can also be brought up to retirees. Of course there are also – very old school – many board games on site.
Technical Equipment
Six game consoles, a green screen box, freely accessible WiFi, various small robots, 20 PCs with Internet access and a sound shower – it doesn’t really sound like a library in the classic sense. The city library in the Motorama has been adapted to the trends of digitization. The soundshower is a seating niche that shields noises from inside and outside. You can connect your smartphone via Bluetooth and enjoy music, audio books or podcasts undisturbed. A green screen box offers the possibility to record professional videos and photos in front of an exchangeable background and to edit them directly in the library. In the media workshop, visitors can also use an audio / video set with camera, lens and tripod, a virtual reality set (two Oculus Quest 2) and an inventor kit (Makey Makey Classroom Kit) and combine with each other. With various small robots, such as bee robots or Lego Mindstorms, children (but also adults) are introduced to the world of programming, with the mediation of media skills and other educational aspects playing an important role.
Workplaces with free WiFi are also available in the learning area on the upper floor.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Opening weekend
The opening of the Motorama 1973 was celebrated with “free beer and sausages and the distribution of free budgies,” as the SZ wrote. When the new city library in the Ladenstadt opens for the first time on Friday, November 26th, there will also be a lot for free: a full weekend for a whole weekend program across the wide range of the house. On Friday, for example, children can experience stories while reading aloud, digitally or in a narrative theater and then stay to do handicrafts (3pm and 5pm); Schoolchildren and students learn how the “Rechercheservive +” helps them with seminar papers (6 pm); At the “Scienceslam” in the showroom, young scientists vie for the audience with crazy research texts. Saturday is “Mega Gaming Day” with stations for inventing games, programming robot bees, political simulation games, console gaming or board games; at 6 pm there is “Powerpoint Karaoke”. On Sunday, the clown Gluck from the sea and a Kamishi theater will tell the fairy tale of “Hans im Glück” in many languages, while the reading novel of the cult novel “Tschik” (started a week earlier in HP8) continues. There are guided tours throughout the weekend, including to the beginnings of the Motorama as the “Münchner Kindl-Keller”.
Opened 48 years ago as Germany’s largest car salon, the Motorama in Haidhausen now houses shops such as the Hong Kong market – and now also a branch of the city library on 3600 square meters.
(Photo: Robert Haas)