Jackson, WY- Hundreds of people turned out Thursday to celebrate Teton County Library’s Grand Opening, enjoying a complimentary chili lunch, library tours, live music and an official ribbon cutting.
During the ribbon cutting, eyes kept flitting up to the ceiling as many eagerly awaited the illumination of “Filament Mind,” suspended threads of gossamer fiber optic cables attached to labels on the lobby walls. The one thousand labels represent the entire Dewey Decimal system. Anytime a library user searches a library catalog, anywhere in Wyoming, the art project illuminates a bundle of cables showing what topics are being queried.
Filament Mind
By Brian W. Brush, Yong Ju Lee, and Noa Younse
Filament Mind is Teton County Library’s public art piece, privately supported by the Teton County Library Foundation and donations from the Sage Foundation and the Teton County Library Friends. It is a 
data-driven installation that visualizes the collective curiosities and questions of Wyoming Library patrons. Whenever any Wyoming public library visitor anywhere in the state performs a search of the library catalog from a computer Filament Mind illuminates that search in a flash of color and light through glowing bundles of fiber optic cables.
Each of the 1000 fiber optic cables hanging above (totaling over 5 miles of cable) corresponds to a call number in Dewey Decimal System which organizes the library’s collection into approximately 1000 categories of knowledge. These category titles are displayed in text on the lobby’s south and north walls.