Tiny Libraries

Jardin de las Granadas | 2019

City of Santa Barbara County of Santa Barbara jardin de las granadas South County temporary public art

A red bookshelf shaped like an exclamation mark stands on a brick sidewalk near a street corner in Santa Barbara County, with an American flag and trees in the background.

A bright orange bookshelf shaped like an ampersand (&) stands on a Santa Barbara County sidewalk, holding several books. It sits outdoors on brick pavement at a street corner, with cars and buildings in the background.

A child sits inside the bottom cubby of a large, yellow, hashtag-shaped bookshelf filled with books, outdoors on a brick sidewalk in front of Benchmark Eatery in Santa Barbara County.

Large colorful sculptures—a red exclamation mark, green question mark, silver ampersand, orange hashtag, and blue lowercase i—are displayed outdoors in a semicircular garden in front of a light-colored Santa Barbara County building.

A green question mark-shaped bookshelf filled with books stands on a sidewalk in Santa Barbara County, in front of a Starbucks Coffee shop. In the background, a Victoria Court sign hangs above another storefront.

A large red ampersand sculpture filled with books sits on a brick sidewalk in lively downtown Santa Barbara County at dusk, with blurred car lights and historic buildings glowing softly in the background.

A blue keyhole-shaped outdoor bookshelf filled with books stands on a brick sidewalk at night in Santa Barbara County, with streetlights, American flags, and blurred car lights glowing in the background.

A bright yellow, modern bookshelf stands outdoors on a brick sidewalk in Santa Barbara County at night, filled with books. Streetlights, shops, a parked bicycle, and blurred car lights glow in the background.

A modern, yellow, S-shaped outdoor bookshelf filled with books stands on a city sidewalk at night in Santa Barbara County. Cars pass by, and American flags and streetlights line the street with historic buildings in the background.

A large green bookshelf shaped like a question mark stands on a Santa Barbara County city sidewalk at night, holding several books. Street signs, lights, and blurred car headlights are visible in the background.

A red, exclamation mark-shaped public bookshelf filled with books stands on a Santa Barbara County city sidewalk at night, with blurred car lights and buildings in the background. An American flag hangs above the street.

Project Overview

Tiny Libraries is a vibrant public art installation by Douglas Lochner featuring six bright, life-sized libraries in the playful shape of punctuation marks. More than just sculptural works, each piece functions as a free community library—encouraging passersby to borrow or donate books and engage in spontaneous literary exchange.

Four of the sculptures are currently installed in the Jardin de las Granadas located at 21 E Anapamu St. These interactive sculptures invite curiosity and conversation while promoting literacy and access to the arts. By combining form and function, Lochner transforms everyday symbols into joyful landmarks of connection and creativity.

The original Tiny Libraries project was generously underwritten by the City of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Beautiful, Downtown Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, and the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation, with support from the Santa Barbara Independent. The current exhibition has been made possible through the support of the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, which underwrote the cost of transport and installation.

Medium: Powdercoated Steel

About the Artist(s)

Douglas Lochner

Douglas Lochner is an American artist known for his innovative fine art sculptures, working primarily in glass, metal, stone, and other natural materials. His minimalist works explore uplifting, universal themes that resonate beyond language and culture, often incorporating kinetic elements and light to create immersive experiences.

Lead by innovation and a passion to discover new ways of sculpting using a variety of materials like wood, glass, metal, software, etc., his works are known for inspiring awe in the way he can master materials and invent new processes that push the boundary of reason. He has worked with a number of designing and engineering companies like NASA, Apple, and UCLA to create new and innovative systems. Lochner has worked in public parks, museums, and airports for his public works. His vast knowledge and unique creativity is the reason why his ideas for the tiny library projects were selected over a number of other amazing artists.

The universal symbols of punctuation marks that ascend language and culture barriers were Lochner’s idea for the tiny library project. Building off his ideals of connectivity through universal symbols, Lochner sculpted a variety of punctuation marks like a hashtag, an exclamation mark, a question mark, etc for the Santa Barbara community to interact with and encourage reading.

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