Tuesday, Nov. 30^th, 10AM ET – 5PM ET | 7AM PST – 2PM PST

Library Design Challenges Announced!

Following are the five library design projects selected to be the focus of our architect-led breakouts during Design Institute on Nov. 30th!

Join us for this free, day-long virtual event where you’ll hear from, and engage with, experts in library architecture and design. Topics include designing for learning, designing for equity and inclusion, making small changes for big impact, and more!  Whatever your library’s size or budget (or lack thereof), you’ll walk away with actionable solutions.

Attendance is Free! Register Today!

Click here to see the full program

(Can’t make some or all of the sessions? No worries, most of the sessions will be available for on-demand viewing until Feb. 30)

The Challenges

Clinton Public Library, Clinton, IA
Architect: RATIO Design

With a new building project on the horizon and the potential to renovate a 1904 Carnegie Library, the Clinton Public Library is looking to expand into 42,000 square feet from its current 19,600 square feet during their concept development phase. The current Carnegie building lacks accessible routes into the building and can be difficult to navigate across the three levels, with only some wheelchair accessible spaces. Currently, the library features only one accessible restroom that is not fully ADA compliant. The building, serving a community of 24,469 in the city and additional county residents in central western Illinois, is expensive to maintain and inefficient in its energy consumption. 

McConnell Library, Redford, VA
Architect: Tappè Architects, Inc.

With a footprint consisting of three existing structures built over multiple decades, the McConnell Library serves Radford University's 10,000 students, many of whom are first-generation college attendees in a primarily rural setting. The building's interior features a variety of services providing support for students from campus units as well as the library. Collections and services are not co-located, spread across multiple floors. Some, but not all, of the floors can hold collections. Librarians and staff, particularly for Special Collections, are not close to the communities they serve, their collections, or their department managers. An underutilized atrium offers an opportunity to reimagine a gathering space for events or activities, currently missing in the building's program. A potential renovation could re-imagine where services, collections, and employees are located to best serve the campus, offer more events and gathering space, and address much-needed infrastructure improvements to address heating and cooling issues and leaks.

McKinley Memorial Library, Niles, OH
Architect: krM Architecture

Engaged in a strategic planning effort, the McKinley Memorial Library is looking to address accessibility issues and space constraints present throughout its 16,260 square foot building. Built in 1917 and last renovated in 1985, the library lacks an elevator for community members and library employees to easily navigate between its collections on the upper floors of the building, and processing and service areas on the lower levels. The city of 19,000 could also use spaces in the library to meet, host a children's and teens area, and to study. 

Natrona County Library, Casper, WY
Architect: Arch Nexus

Facing 24,300 unusable square footage because of asbestos, the Natrona County Library is in the concept development phase of a library renovation, looking to add up to 90,000 square feet to its existing 32,700 square feet of usable square footage. Serving a population of 80,000 people in central Wyoming, the library is looking to reimagine its too-small footprint to create a space that is safe, welcoming, and more fully ADA-compliant and accessible. With a larger facility, the library wants to offer meeting & programming rooms, a business center, a drive-through bookmobile garage, and space for outdoor programming.

West Chester Public Library, West Chester, PA
Furniture & Design Company: Opening the Book

In a visioning stage to redesign the library's first floor and lower levels, the West Chester Public Library aims to redesign traffic flow and layout to enhance the customer experience and make it easier for staff to serve their community. The historic building, built in 1888 and renovated last in 2004, does not adequately meet the community's needs or the library's vision to serve as a community hub. Prioritizing flexible seating and workspace options for members  to read, study, and meet, the library aims to better serve its 58,000 residents of the 6 municipality Chester County Library System by adding at least 4,000 square feet to the 5,000 square feet available to the public. The renovation would honor the historic nature of the building, which features an original, hand-carved staircase, but is excited to relocate existing service points like the information desk, to create a more functional and flexible user experience. 

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If you have any questions, email us at ljevents@mediasourceinc.com.

If you are a service provider or publisher and would like to sponsor the event, please contact Advertising Director Roy Futterman.