The Rotterdam VII Library

[Destiny0315]

I am curious from those on board the Rotterdam TA if they have noticed much activity yet inside the new library and what they think of it? From the few photos I have seen the book displays look very Barnes and Noble(ish), and the simple chairs and small tables don't exactly invite you to roll up in a lounger and enjoy a good book on a sea day like in the older HAL libraries. Don't get me wrong I am glad the library is back, but just wish it had some more style in its reboot. 

[albingirl]

I wish they'd bring back the libraries.  I'm not buying the argument that people were stealing books.  That's ridiculous. It was a wonderful perk on the longer cruises and widely used.

[Tampa Girl]

1 hour ago, albingirl said:

I wish they'd bring back the libraries.  I'm not buying the argument that people were stealing books.  That's ridiculous. It was a wonderful perk on the longer cruises and widely used.

 

Agree completely.  I wish they would reinstall it on the long cruises, particularly.   I will be curious to see if they do so on the Grand Voyages.

[Tampa Girl]

On 10/23/2021 at 2:11 PM, Destiny0315 said:

I am curious from those on board the Rotterdam TA if they have noticed much activity yet inside the new library and what they think of it? From the few photos I have seen the book displays look very Barnes and Noble(ish), and the simple chairs and small tables don't exactly invite you to roll up in a lounger and enjoy a good book on a sea day like in the older HAL libraries. Don't get me wrong I am glad the library is back, but just wish it had some more style in its reboot. 

 

Has anyone on the Rotterdam heard any rumors as to whether libraries might be coming back on their other ships?

[fusion927]

On 10/24/2021 at 1:13 PM, Tampa Girl said:

 

Has anyone on the Rotterdam heard any rumors as to whether libraries might be coming back on their other ships?

I believe I heard during the Trans-Atlantic that yes, they plan to expand it to the other ships.

[sansterre]

These are photos I took on the Rotterdam VII last week.

Yes, they seem cold compared to the libraries of past HAL ships.

There were no large tables, no big dictionary, no atlas or globes.

The chairs were not the Ames chairs with ottomans, but it was a library!

It was a quiet space and there were a a few people in the chairs reading books.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

it has all the warmth and ambiance of a corporate bookstore in an airport, well actually less .... but heck it's still a library!

 

Actually the more I study the pictures the more I think it looks like a bookshop in some ultra-modern art museum, again with less ambiance or charm - LOL

Edited November 5, 2021 by AtlantaCruiser72

[KirkNC]

It looks cold and corporate.

[Sea42]

To me it looks very user friendly, the way the books are displayed will make for an easy browsing experience. The titles are recent with nice mix of genres and multiple copies. Libraries don't have to look like an Olde English men's club to be enjoyable.

[Florida_gal_50]

25 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

To me it looks very user friendly, the way the books are displayed will make for an easy browsing experience. The titles are recent with nice mix of genres and multiple copies. Libraries don't have to look like an Olde English men's club to be enjoyable.

Exactly.  First it’s a must to have a library, now it’s not good enough.  Maybe some people snoring in chairs will make it look more homey 😂.

[dockman]

16 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

it has all the warmth and ambiance of a corporate bookstore in an airport, well actually less .... but heck it's still a library!

 

Actually the more I study the pictures the more I think it looks like a bookshop in some ultra-modern art museum, again with less ambiance or charm - LOL

It also appears to have multiple copies of the same books rather than a wide selection...it appears to have been designed and stocked by someone who was more interested in aesthetics than books.  A library should be about books, not cutesy looking half filled bookshelves.

[bennybear]

I’m just happy to see at least something!  If you want a gorgeous library check out Queen Victoria, spiral staircases, wood bookshelves and a librarian. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Since the ship was just launched from a European port I'm hopeful that now she is based in FLL for the winter that the breadth and depth of titles in the library will be increased, as procurement of English language books can be expensive/difficult in the EU.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

5 hours ago, Sea42 said:

To me it looks very user friendly, the way the books are displayed will make for an easy browsing experience. The titles are recent with nice mix of genres and multiple copies. Libraries don't have to look like an Olde English men's club to be enjoyable.

 

I have only seen the above two photos - is there actually any seating and are there any windows?

 

I agree that it doesn't have to be traditional decor to be enjoyable, but the setup has to invite one in and say "browse and enjoy the space and materials".  These displays currently come across as clinical and museum like and don't appear to engage the user to want to linger and explore as a good Library should.  I'm hopeful that over time the space will become more inviting and engaging as more books, and perhaps more seating, are added.

[Sea42]

58 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

I have only seen the above two photos - is there actually any seating and are there any windows?

 

I agree that it doesn't have to be traditional decor to be enjoyable, but the setup has to invite one in and say "browse and enjoy the space and materials".  These displays currently come across as clinical and museum like and don't appear to engage the user to want to linger and explore as a good Library should.  I'm hopeful that over time the space will become more inviting and engaging as more books, and perhaps more seating, are added.

I agree, comfortable seating is a must!

I do wonder how the decor fits in with the rest of the ship.

But all that aside it's great that HAL is bringing back libraries 😀

[rkacruiser]

The most significant fact that there is a library!  

[ski ww]

I agree at least there is a library, so head office has listened. 

[Reagan0712]

All the books were new.  There were a couple of older titles, Anne of Green Gables, in new binding but not many.  Seating, like the rest of the ship, left much to be desired.  It seems to be HAL’s goal to purchase the most uncomfortable seating on the market.  Hopefully as people leave books on the ship they will be added to the library.

[Minoushka]

People did not take books …I always left mine …weight in luggage

 

[sambamama]

That was the corporate excuse for getting rid of the libraries?? The last I heard was that HAL was moving in a new direction. I doubt anyone stole books. Perhaps left them in their cabins. Plenty of people used the library-to read, play board games, do jigsaw puzzles, play cards, and chat. One ship had a gorgeous Scrabble game-all wood and very deluxe. At most, people might take one of the paperbacks that people left behind. I bought a Kindle Paperwhite to replace the books I would read ona cruise. 

[tamsno]

It’s good to have the library back but hardly a comfortable lounging with a book area.  Sadly the Crows Nest also seems to have lost most of its comfortable sofas and chairs that KDam and NStat and all the others have.     Why all the tables and chairs?   Beautiful ship from the pictures but not very user friendly.   

[cruisemom42]

46 minutes ago, tamsno said:

Why all the tables and chairs?   Beautiful ship from the pictures but not very user friendly.

 

Perhaps it's an attempt to create a space that can be used by those who currently sit at the tables in the lido/buffet all day long, playing games or crafting or just talking, thus freeing up more space for those who actually want to eat.

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, Reagan0712 said:

Hopefully as people leave books on the ship they will be added to the library.

 

It's becoming a "responsibility" for those of us who enjoy reading hard or paperback copies of books to do so, I think.  And, why not?  I have enjoyed reading books that others have left and I hope the books that I have left have been enjoyed by other guests.  There have been a few books that I returned home with me.  I thought I would read them again.  Guess what?  They remain unread on my book shelves and are now dust collectors.  There's too much new to read.   

[Reagan0712]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Perhaps it's an attempt to create a space that can be used by those who currently sit at the tables in the lido/buffet all day long, playing games or crafting or just talking, thus freeing up more space for those who actually want to eat.

This shouldn’t be much of an issue because as soon as the breakfast/lunch period is over all food is put away and the blinds are pulled at each station until dinner time. Same after dinner.

 

The Rotterdam has in the Crow’s Nest an area with a wall of cubbies that contained little suitcases in which there were games. Checkers, chess, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, etc. and, I think, six or eight tables. The chairs at the tables may have been the only comfortable chairs up there.

[ShipWalker]

What I like about HAL ships is that there are hidey holes in which to quietly read if you know where to look.