When was the last time you visited the library?

The role of brick-and-mortar libraries in the digital age is rapidly morphing in uncertain directions. Who knows what the role of libraries will become— aside from sanctuaries for the homeless?

Until the digital dust settles, Salt Lake’s libraries are filling one niche as public art galleries.

Right now, at the Main Library downtown you can catch a thought-provoking exhibit by Lenka Konopasek, a Czech native and University of Utah grad and instructor with an impressive list of credentials and exhibits.

Konopasek describes her sinister paintings and pop-up paper constructions of epic disasters as “a collision between nature and people.”

“It is a struggle of wills where human structures are being reclaimed and handicapped by nature’s might. It shows our advanced technology being fractured and swallowed by natural elements.”

You’ll have to hurry because Konopasek’s exhibit ends Friday.

While you’re there, check out the whimsical paintings of Andy Chase in the Main Library Canteena.

And, of course, take some time to follow the lines and sweeps of the Main Library itself. Designed by Israeli/Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, it is one of the city’s visual treasures.