Completed in 2009 by William Rawn Associates, this LEED Silver addition and restoration is literally a shining light on the outskirts of Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA. Crudely put, the first thought that comes to mind is, "Giant Apple store!" In today's times, an all-glass cuboid with a clean, thick, light wood interior could only suggest such. The thought is only reinforced upon entering the library; a row of desktop computers off to the right of the main entrance makes one forget, for a moment or two, that they are not, in fact, inside an Apple store.

Luckily, the prospect of having a public library inside an Apple store is not actually a revolting thought. It's additionally lucky that William Rawn decided against an interior glass staircase and replaced it with more of a grand, colorful staircase that cuts into the lower volume of the library. I do wish he had chosen a color other than such a garish red (especially when the same color is plastered on any non-wooden surface), but at least the color contrasts with the Apple interior.

But the reason we love this building is that it accomplishes exactly everything that a library should: a comfortable, welcoming place to enjoy a book, research articles, or meet-up to do homework, a unison may actually be significantly harder to accomplish than it seems. Although Rawn combines Starbucks and Apple chic for his final product, he takes what works best from that category (professionalism, environment) and mashes it up with the enduring integrity of a library. Perhaps the Cambridge Public Library is simply the prototype for the future of urban libraries in a culture where the library is not the first place we think of to go and read a book.