Palanga Summer Reading Room
The history of the summer residence of the Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library – the Palanga Reading Room – began in 1965 in the chapel on Birutė Hill. Periodicals could be read there for one summer, but the small space did not meet the needs of holidaymakers. In 1966 it was moved to a building on Vytautas Street designed by the resort’s chief architect at the time, Albinas Čepis (1917-1989).
The reading room is housed in a distinctive, eye-catching glass building resembling a stagnant wave. In its first year of operation, it was voted the best in a survey of reading rooms in the Soviet Union. The building stood out from the industrial style buildings of the time with its aesthetic, light forms and its resemblance to the old resort villas. The pride of the building is the more than 150-year-old oak tree, which is built into the structure and still “grows” in the main hall of the building, giving the reading room a unique cosiness.
In 2014, the Reading Room was included in the Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Register. A plaque commemorating the architect A. Čepis, the creator of the Reading Room.
In 1979, the sculpture “Girl” (sculptor A. Vertulienė, architect V. Daninskis) was erected on the premises of the building.
The Reading Room hosts exhibitions of Lithuanian artists, book presentations, meetings with authors and other cultural figures, as well as art education and concentration exercises.
Vytauto g. 72, Palanga
Vytauto g. 72, Palangos m., Palangos m. sav.
