While the COVID-19 pandemic has understandably been a key concern over the past few years, architects and librarians haven’t neglected other important factors in the continuing evolution of libraries in their communities. ABA’s Lead Planner Katherine Rivard, Design Principal Mark Schoeman, AIA, and Interior Designer Ashly Vineyard, NCDIQ, came together to discuss these factors, ranging from design challenges to operational considerations.  

1. As public libraries adapt to changing roles in their communities, what trends are you seeing in terms of design and planning?

Ashly: From an interior design perspective, I’m seeing extensions and refinements of existing trends more than anything uniquely novel – for example, the interest in biophilic design and consideration for the relationship between exterior and interior spaces in serving library patrons. Furthermore, despite political pressures in some quarters, libraries are remaining steadfast in their commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as part of their mission to serve all members of their communities. DEI therefore continues to be a strong influence in the programming and design of library interiors, and is further reflected by a stronger emphasis on community/public outreach when it comes to projects as well as a continuing interest in providing library services beyond books and media collections (e.g. office drop-ins, community spaces, training/education). And while we can’t directly help library leadership deal with serious challenges such as book bans and censorship, as reported by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (see https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2023/09/american-library-association-releases-preliminary-data-2023-book-challenges), we can help libraries translate DEI policies into genuinely inclusive and, crucially, lived experiences for patrons.

Mark: Moving to an architectural perspective, an additional pattern we’re seeing is the increased move away from institutional styles of architecture toward styles that express a community’s local character. This isn’t strictly an aesthetic focus, but rather a reflection of the importance communities attach to their libraries as genuinely public places with services for all. Unlike the historical approach to libraries that styled buildings as institutions aloof from their communities, whether expressed as classical revivals or very formal modernist structures, today’s designs strive to emphasize how libraries are hubs that play an integrated and active role in civic life. This means paying attention to local cultural signifiers, local history, local materials – basically, creating a two-way conversation between a library’s physical presence and its context rather than a building that, in a sense, just yells at passersby. There’s an opportunity to redefine the perception of libraries as institutions by focusing on an inclusive experience that begins well before patrons step inside the building. It’s also worth noting that designing from a local perspective is an important aspect of creating sustainable buildings, because the idea is to harmonize the building to local climates and environments rather than using extraordinary, and often energy/resource-intensive, designs to conquer them. 
 

City of Salinas El Gabilan Library: The children’s area features colors and patterns that express the City’s agricultural heritage. (ABA)

Kate: Amidst all this, we’re excited to talk with libraries about adaptations to their service models to extend their reach into their communities. Satellite facilities/branches and mobile libraries are just two examples of conventional approaches getting renewed attention with a more holistic and integrated perspective of library services. Another, more recent adaptation, further catalyzed by the pandemic, is the positioning of libraries as “second responders” in answer to the question: what role can a library play during times of natural disasters and/or social crises? At a time when public institutions are subject to skepticism and even cynicism, strengthening and even redefining how libraries support their communities goes a long way to reestablishing public trust. Looking beyond information services, it’s therefore exciting to see librarians and city leaders exploring how library buildings can support human needs services, from food distribution to emergency shelters, cooling centers, sanctuaries during bad air quality days, etc.. We have definitely seen more substantive discussions around these functions in our planning and strategic visioning work.

2. Within the broader context of libraries’ social role, what challenges are you seeing in terms of specific projects?

Kate: While societal challenges such as climate change and economic conditions undoubtedly are having an impact on library projects, we’re seeing more specific challenges affecting daily operations as well as the typical funding challenge any public project has to deal with. On the operational side, libraries are dealing not only with staffing costs but with the challenge of finding staff, which requires greater consideration for efficiency in library spaces. Project funding remains an issue, not only in terms of cost escalations and the limits of State funding, but also from partnerships with other agencies/organizations. For example, a public library that partners with a school district may find additional costs associated with project reviews/approvals that fall under the Division of the State Architect’s jurisdiction. It’s worth emphasizing the value of stakeholder engagement as a form of change management to enable decision-making, manage costs, and ultimate help “future proof” a library.

Mark: Other challenges include safety, which can encompass the risk of mass shootings, stalkers threatening staff or patrons, and interactions with unhoused populations, as well as addressing competing needs that are often intergenerational in nature. It’s important to remember that while libraries are a very specific type of building, they also fit within the broader family of civic buildings that, in a way, have to fulfill multiple roles for multiple people and community groups.

3. Given the need to advocate for libraries, essentially championing projects within a context of finite funding and competing priorities in public budgets, how can library leaders partner with firms to address these challenges?

Mark: In our experience, championing projects begins well before the design phase, with site assessments, design studies, needs assessment, and a clear plan for the process leading from needs to vision to project. By engaging communities with discussions about they need and exploring options for fulfilling those needs, the opportunity naturally arises for libraries, city leaders, and community members to advocate for a project they helped conceive, which in turn motivates fundraising and provides decision-makers with the popular support needed to realize the project.

Ashly: Something else to consider is engaging other entities/agencies/organizations with potential shared interests in a library project. As facilitators, we can help explore opportunities for a project whose value to the community is enhanced by combining library services with other services/amenities/programs. 
 

City of Sunnyvale Lakewood Library & Learning Center: A unique outreach-driven community project serving the City’s Library and Recreation Services Department, the Fremont Union High School District, and Sunnyvale Elementary School District. (ABA)

4. It seems that partnerships can be a very fruitful approach to enhancing libraries. In fact, ABA has seen public libraries succeed by fostering joint-use arrangements – for example, San Jose Public Library and San Jose State University in their MLK Jr. Library and the City of Virginia Beach and Tidewater Community College in their joint-use building.

Kate: Joint-use libraries are a particularly fascinating service model, offering opportunities to further weave libraries into the fabric of their communities. These opportunities are not only about library spaces themselves, but of the library’s relationship to adjacent buildings. For example, libraries co-located with senior centers/residences offer senior citizen greater social connections with the broader community. Retail spaces are another example, leveraging the combination of library services and programs with desirable businesses (e.g. cafes) to create vibrant spaces of social life. There are certainly challenges as well as benefits to joint-use models, particularly in terms of distinguishing between functions/spaces that can be shared vs functions/spaces that need to remain distinct. Yet the opportunity for libraries to partner with schools, social support groups, and other organizations offers tantalizing opportunities for reinforcing the library’s increasingly multi-faceted role in its community. Deeper thinking also challenges us to think about what a partnership will look like in the future and each partner’s needs naturally evolve. 
 

City of Virginia Beach & Tidewater Community College Joint-Use Library: The successful City and College partnership supports a thriving center of community dialogue and collaboration. (ABA, RRMM, Carrier Johnson + CULTURE)

5. Inclusivity is clearly a connective thread among the various goals libraries have. How do you design spaces to be truly welcoming – inclusive – for diverse patrons?

Mark: By now, designing for inclusion is built-in to most architects’ practice in the public sector, with accessibility being an obvious example but considerations for neurodiversity, age, and culture increasingly integrated into design thinking. Fundamentally, our approach to library design is rooted in the recognition that libraries by their very nature and purpose are places for all people. They are not monuments to abstract civilizational concepts, but instead expressions of community life that expresses the positive aspects of public interactions both with each other and with their municipalities. Given that each community has distinct characters, the goal is to design libraries whose unique and civic sense of place is inviting and not exclusive.

Kate: Pre-design efforts actually play an essential role in designing for inclusion, because public outreach and community engagement offer the best opportunities to understand library patrons – who they are, what they need/want from their library, and so on. The early act of listening is itself an invitation for people to feel included as valued contributors to what is, fundamentally, “their” project, and sets the foundation for designing a library to specifically serve them.

Ashly: A related perspective is asking the question: how does the library treat its community’s most vulnerable constituents? Understanding the library from the perspective of different patrons – striving to break through privileged assumptions to specifically understand how historically marginalized/unprivileged patrons experience the building – is a fundamentally necessary attitude for designers to cultivate.

6. What advice do you have for libraries looking to improve their facilities?

Kate: In our experience, having the humility to approach a project with curiosity brings about more meaningful – and personal – results than engaging with a project with a know-it-all attitude. Given not just the complexity but the sheer number of intersecting factors, a willingness to learn from others not only helps articulate the actual problems to be solved but helps people fully invest in their project.

Mark: This is as true in design as it is in planning. We benefit by having people willing to challenge assumptions, ask “what if?”, and put themselves in someone else’s shoes instead of working to justify pre-conceived ideas and solutions. We tend to design for a perfect world, but we should ultimately strive to design for the world as it is.

SPONSORED BY