What I noticed first about Louise Riley Library, besides the great location, is the neon "LIBRARY" AND "OPEN" signs. You don't see a lot of neon in and around buildings in the city anymore, but people fondly remember signs such as Kensington's Telstar Drugs, which is now in the Glenbow's collection. Once connoting urban decline, neon has been rediscovered in recent years as an art form. According to the Britannica Encyclopedia available online in our E-library, neon is a chemical element, a noble gas. If trapped in a glass tube and introduced to electricity, it glows orange-red. The art of the sign is in bending and shaping the glass to form letters. You can also find neon indoors in our Teenzone signs at some of the branches.


If you have any Calgary neon favorites please
comment...