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A lively place in an open house

The design of the new library, in a former malthouse (mouterij in Flemish), responds to the contemporary trend of focusing on experiencing and encountering.

Librarian Elke Vandewalle says: “We created cosy seating areas in various places where we want to encourage our library users to 'linger for a while'. The reading room is also a separate, cosy space with longer opening hours than the library itself. At the same time, we tried to create as much openness as possible. We combined rooms with lower ceilings with lower shelving as much as possible.”

At first, readers were surprised by the openness and light in the building. Readers (re)discovered interesting materials in the new settings.

The reading room attracts students and people who come to work here instead of at home.

De Mouterij has become a lively place to meet, relax, inform, and reflect.

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