Updating a Classic

When it was built in 1940, the Main Library of the Toledo–Lucas County Public Library resembled the nearby department stores in a bustling, multiuse downtown. The 1940 department store was not cheery, open, or brightly lit. It lacked places to sit or to entertain children. It offered a formal experience to those who dressed up for a special shopping trip. It had a single purpose—shopping.

Similarly, the 1940 library was a department store of books. Nine adult collections and one children's book collection were shelved in separate locations on multiple floors, offering a conventional experience for reading and quiet study. Patrons "shopped" from room to room.

In recent years, suburbanization lured all the department stores from downtown. The streets are lightly trafficked after business hours. Still, library planners barely considered building a new facility closer to current population centers. The downtown Art Deco building was still grand, and there was room to renovate and expand. The library could be an anchor for downtown redevelopment.

A ten-year capital improvements bond (which also supports branches) was passed in 1995. Groundbreaking for the Main Library addition began in March 1998; it was opened two years later as the Main Library closed. In August 2001, after $45.1 million, the Main Library reopened, with a new Wintergarden linking the original building with the addition. The library was expanded some 50 percent, from 186,000 square feet to 271,000 square feet. We can now display 75 percent of the 1.2 million–item collection; previously, 75 percent of the items were in the basement.

While embracing traditional library functions, the library's new design and expanded services echo a mall more than a department store. It has open, brightly lit spaces; serves as a meeting place; offers a variety of services; and merchandises the collection. As with a mall, the Main Library is a destination, a user-friendly one-stop adventure for discovering library materials and activities.

The public has responded. Main Library circulation was up 23 percent and gate counts rose 29 percent in 2001, even though the 1940 library was in operation only four months. The library, which is open until 9 p.m. Monday–Thursday, is the most popular downtown destination after dark and is very busy on weekends.

Many patrons say they're astounded that there's a building like this in Toledo. Visitors have been overwhelmingly pleased by the function and beauty of the new Main Library, the careful restoration of the 1940 Art Deco structure, the sensitive blending of old and new, and the soaring glass Wintergarden.

The 1940 building had an auditorium, but the library wasn't considered a general meeting place. Other centers that drew people together—clubs, lodges, churches, schools, political and civic groups—declined by 2001.

The new Main Library offers numerous venues: small conference rooms, a 200-seat meeting room, and the 275-seat McMaster Family Center for Lifelong Learning. Also available are the McMaster Lobby, civic plaza, the glass Wintergarden, Central Court, and exhibit gallery. These areas support library services and programs and also host special events.

The 1940 building split the Dewey classifications of knowledge into nine adult subject departments, with specialist librarians assigned to each department. In practice, though, the arrangement was difficult for patrons to navigate.

The collections are now combined in one department to respond to the need for quick, comprehensible access. Two reference desks, Business/Technology and Humanities, support six collections of 750,000 volumes, conveniently located on one floor. While some librarians regret the change, all have been trained to expand their reference skills to a broader set of disciplines.

People entering the library, however, first see the very popular audiovisual collection and the new spaces for best sellers, new titles, teen materials, and technology. The Popular Library occupies prime real estate between the Central Court of the 1940s building and the Wintergarden entry to the addition. Patrons find best sellers, circulating periodicals, and all new books in an area that also features comfortable lounge seating and good lighting.

Prior to 2001 the audio and video collections were shelved on different floors. Now all AV is aggregated in an expanded space on the ground floor. Because AV circulation is high at the Main Library, we've made a special effort to merchandise the 17,000-item collection, using colorful custom-built cases and new signage. Televisions on top of book shelves and a 72" screen in the juvenile AV section continuously show TV programs or films of general interest. Indeed, nearly every department and several public spaces have TV screens, tuned to stations like ESPN, CNN, C-SPAN, and local weather. On September 11 and for days to follow, patrons and staff clustered around the televisions.

We chose to focus on teens as an underserved group. Teens, who want to be as far away from children as possible, now nestle in their own funky, metallic space, sandwiched between the Popular Library and the Technology Center and easily accessible to both. The small Teen Library includes books, magazines, and computers.

Children, by contrast, have long been a library priority. The 1940 Children's Room was handsome and welcoming but ultimately too small; the Children's Library is four times larger. It is not just the breadth and depth of the collection that amaze visitors but rather the playfulness and creativity of the room, the noise, and the active spaces. Designers created scenes and characters from book titles chosen by staffers. Amazing Grace dances to life as an elegant ballerina from a three-dimensional relief mural. A restored 1950 gold Cadillac juts from the wall and has a movable steering wheel, side-view mirror, and gold vinyl seats. There are many other fabrications and displays plus an aquarium, 22 public computers and four large TV screens for electronic discovery, and a program room that seats 80.

As with many libraries, the new Main provides computer access to the online catalog, the Internet, and proprietary databases. We have 133 PCs, with ports for 700. The importance of television and multimedia to younger generations is reflected in the multiple video walls, the large-screen sets, and especially the McMaster Family Center for Lifelong Learning.

The McMaster Center auditorium is a superb public resource for library programming and meetings, with wireless touch-screen control of all source devices and room support systems, studio-quality audio, cable feed, satellite access, and videoconferencing capabilities. This center—thanks to an $850,000 gift—tends to wow visitors, including librarians.

"Meet me at the mall" implies convenient parking, the opportunity to grab a bite to eat, and, of course, to shop. The Main Library also provides those services. Convenient parking was essential to a building that previously lacked its own lot. Entry from the 300 parking spaces on the promenade level takes patrons past the Friends of the Library gift shop. A small café on the same level serves a light fare.

In the new Main, the Local History and Genealogy Department (LHG) has doubled in size. It includes a diverse and broad collection of materials—from books to maps—for the study of local politics and government, business and industry, family histories, and more. The preservation of Toledo's and northwest Ohio's history has drawn patrons to the Main Library for generations and has contributed to the library's solid reputation.

LHG is a classic scholarly library. It is quiet and serious. The wood-paneled Blade Rare Book Room and the labor history room have comfortable black leather chairs and elegant study tables. Most of this third floor space was once storage.

In 1996, the library chose a local architect, construction manager, and architectural consultant. While a team from out of town might have offered more cachet, local experts provided a deeper understanding of the community and fostered easy communication. They knew they would have to live with the consequences of the building. So far the new facility has met our, and their, expectations. But we can adapt this structure for future needs.