Wow, I certainly didn't mean to open such a can of worms with my post, but feel that I do have answer and try and explain my point of view.
I look at the two pictures and I like the Victorian one very much, I wish it had not been demolished, but as others have said, at the time the planners rightly or wrongly thought they were building a new Birmingham, one that would last for decades, sadly as we know it didn't and many of the "worst" 1960's buildings have gone, both within the city centre and on the areas surrounding the city centre. I look at old photographs and shake my head that so much was lost, but it did happen in other cities, not just Birmingham and as others have said, we had a dreadful reputation 35 years ago as the concrete city, a lot of the really bad examples have gone.
I admit to a pang of sadness when the library was demolished, it, like the Bull Ring and New Street station were the only ones I "knew", so for me personally I was sad about that, I admit it. It felt like part of my teenage years had gone, but I can at the same time appreciate the buildings that have been restored.
I shouldn't really have commented here, so my apologies for that and a belated Happy New Year to you Lyn and all other members of the forum.
Hey Brummygirl66, apologies not needed or required, this is a history site, we are discussing things past. It is right to open up for discussion past events and opinions of others and not be automatically accepting of them.
There is and never will be one authorised official version of the past, because that would be the most boring thing on the planet, and not true. We have to discuss it, we have to challenge it, we have to sometimes go out of our comfort zone. But we don’t fall out about it.
I have lived and worked in Birmingham all my life, I love the place. I was there as the little boy with my mom in the town watching the changes. Birmingham was an industrial town, and also the second most bombed city in the UK. People needed a fresh start after the war. It was promised, deserved and ultimately delivered.
Even in the very early 60’s I recall the town as looking well past its sell by date, gridlocked with traffic and not being quite the showcase, a city should be. There seemed to be a forward-looking hope that a newer modern city centre would deliver a better standard of living for all. Not many people complained at the time, when the old building were being demolished. Some were glad to see them go, bringing them nearer to achieving their forward-looking hope.
I am ok with the second library, as I am sad at the loss of the old. I certainly did not subscribe to Prince Charles’ view that it was a carbuncle, as place where books are burnt. The design was part of a mass consultation, and winner of a competition and not an arbitrary ideology that some allude too.
It was designed around functionality, which to me as a young person was like a dream. Study booths, ample desk space and toilets. It presented an opportunity to excel. It was also of its time, as is the new library.
In hindsight, things could have been done better, I too mourn the loss the old city. But we cannot go forward mourning the loss of a golden era that never really existed, or can we save every heritage building. I know this from experience.
One final point. I welcome frank and open discussion. I welcome exploring new ideas about the past. I welcome challenging the established thoughts and opinions. But please don’t call my home town a dump. I love Birmingham and I choose to live here. My home has its problems, but it is not a dump. But we are not going to fall out about it, are we.
