Toyokawa Central Library, Public library in Toyokawa, Japan.
Toyokawa Central Library is a two-storey public library at 1-63 Suwa, Toyokawa, Aichi. Its glass-walled general reading room has a double-height ceiling looking onto a row of 280 cherry trees along a 1 km road, and a spherical planetarium dome marks the exterior. All book stacks are on the ground floor, with a Japanese-style reading room and a reference desk.
The library was established in 1999 as part of Toyokawa's city library system. It was created to provide educational resources and reading materials for the local population.
The library hosts regular exhibitions and programs that bring readers of all ages together with books and literature. These activities aim to foster a love of reading throughout the community.
The library stands next to Toyokawa Park and near City Hall; the road between them is lined with 280 cherry trees over one kilometre, the Suwa Cherry Tunnel. All book stacks sit on one floor, with 110 reading seats at opening, and a Japanese-style reading room. The second-floor regional information library lends audiovisual material and posts some films on YouTube.
The planetarium dome, 15.2 metres across with 137 seats, belongs to the Geospace Hall on the second floor. In 2002 only two libraries in Japan had a planetarium, and the projector is run by former Minolta engineers, since Toyokawa is the city where Minolta was founded.
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