2023 Update
In 2020, the DC Public Library issued a Facilities Master Plan to guide the Library in its efforts to provide better and more equitable access to library services throughout the District for the next 10 years and beyond. The plan articulates the Library’s commitment to not only maintain the city’s public libraries, but to adapt them for new uses and continue to pursue strategic opportunities to grow and give even more residents access to this increasingly vital engine of community life.
Among the recommendations in the plan is one to relocate Shepherd Park/Juanita E. Thornton Library south of the existing site to address a service gap identified in Brightwood Park and Manor Park. The recommendation called for further site exploration and community engagement to identify the ideal location for a Shepherd Park Library replacement.
To that end, the Library engaged a third party, Link Strategic Partners, to assist us in conducting community engagement. Specifically, the engagement explored the community’s interest in relocating the Shepherd Park Library to the Walter Reed Campus. Linked below are the results from that effort, which included a survey, focus group, and stakeholder interviews.
No final decisions have been made regarding the relocation of the library. The Library is compiling a report that will include the community engagement results, an assessment of the current building, and updated population data along with analysis from the DC Office of Planning on travel time for residents.
Next Libris: Library Facilities Master Plan
Overview
The DC Public Library is a vital learning institution committed to supporting the needs of all residents regardless of where they live, their income or educational attainment.
Next Libris, the DC Public Library’s Facilities Master Plan, articulates the Library’s commitment to not only maintain the city’s public libraries, but to adapt them for new uses and continue to pursue strategic opportunities to grow and give even more residents access to this increasingly vital engine of community life. The Plan comes as the Library nears completion of a 10-year transformation in which 24 of 26 libraries will be new or fully modernized by 2024, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the District’s central library.
DC Public Library developed the Facilities Master Plan to help guide its physical service delivery strategy for the next 10 years and beyond. It is aspirational and proposes that in the future, the Library will need to and should serve more residents, more equitably, than it does today. The Library will accomplish this by tailoring libraries to respond to individual community needs and by growing the system to meet the needs of an expanding city.
Next Libris is a living document that will be updated as new information becomes available, enabling the Library to respond to changing circumstances and opportunities. The plan was developed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, which we know may have profound long-term impacts on city services.
Facilities Master Planning Goals
This Facilities Master Plan has three goals. These goals collectively frame the Library’s decision-making philosophy for investments over the next decade. Drafted with Library staff and later refined through a robust community engagement process, the goals are
as follows:
Manage assets wisely
The Library will be a good steward of existing facilities by proactively maintaining aging building systems.
Design and build responsively
The Library will regularly update building interiors to remain responsive to neighborhood needs.
Grow equitably and smartly
The Library will seek ways to provide more equitable services to more residents across the District of Columbia.
The Planning Process
The Library reviewed background information, collected and analyzed data and engaged with stakeholders and the community to get a fresh look at how well the existing footprint is meeting community needs. This approach informed a set of comprehensive findings and recommendations that position the Library to better serve residents.
What Is the Plan?
The plan:
- Analyzes how customers currently use libraries and what services might be needed or expanded.
- Explores the impact of city growth on how we deliver library services.
- Engages the community in conversations to ensure future planning aligns with community needs.
- Evaluates the condition of library buildings and help us plan for future maintenance needs.
The Library Facilities Master Plan provides a framework to ensure future investments in DC Public Library services are responsive to community needs.
Why Now?
Over the past decade, DC Public Library has invested a half-billion dollars in renovating and rebuilding the city's libraries. To date, 19 projects are complete, with five more libraries in the design or construction phase. These new buildings have raised the bar for what D.C. residents expect in library service.
Every measure of use has grown tremendously. Library circulation has increased 250 percent in the past decade. The Library now welcomes nearly 4 million visitors per year.
The way libraries are used can differ by neighborhood. In some locations, meeting rooms are more in demand while public computers or books are the most used service at other locations. As such, there is potential to increase use even more by customizing building programs based on community needs. In addition, as neighborhoods in D.C. have changed and grown over the past several decades, some residents are without easy access to a neighborhood library.
The Library Facilities Master Plan helps steer decision making. The Plan also helps the Library work with elected leaders to determine funding priorities.
Community Meetings
In late February and early March 2019, the Library hosted four community meetings across the city to gather initial input from residents about current and future Library needs.
The Library hosted a second round of community meetings to share results of the work to date and how the plan is taking shape.
View the community meeting presentation here.
Feedback gathered at these meetings will helped us refine the planning goals and develop the recommendations.
Community Engagement
The Library conducted extensive community engagement in developing the plan.
Surveys | The Library conducted a survey to gain more in-depth insight into what residents want from their public library. More than 1,200 residents responded to the survey with responses from 28 zip codes across the city.
Community Meetings | The Library hosted six community meetings during the development of the Library Facilities Master Plan to ensure the plan aligns with community needs.
Focus Groups | The Library conducted 8 focus groups with a range of audiences including current library customers, D.C. residents who do not currently use the library, Spanish speaking residents, teens and others who may face barriers to accessing library services.
Email | Residents were invited to submit comments via email if they weren't able to participate in the community meetings. We received more than 100 comments.
Current Library System & Gaps in Service
What does DC Public Library look like today?
The DC Public Library is a system of 26 libraries with space totaling 900,000 square feet. Of the 26 buildings, 20 are new or fully modernized and four more are in the planning, design or construction phase including the central Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. The modernization of the Library’s buildings over the past decade represents an extraordinary pace of project delivery across every ward of the District.
Most, but not all, of the libraries offer a full range of services in 15,000 to 20,000 square feet, including dedicated space for children, teens and adults, meeting rooms, program space and shelving capacity for thousands of books. As DC Public Library looks to expand services across the city more equitably, it bears noting that the smallest libraries serve predominantly low-income communities. An intentional commitment to equity demands exploring ways to provide full-service libraries to these communities.
The District-wide scan identified six general geographic areas where residents do not have the same level of service as in other areas. Gaps result from geographic isolation, insufficient transportation options or insufficient feet-per-capita. A gap in service does not necessarily equate to a recommendation for a new library.
Recommendations
The recommendations laid out in the plan line up with the plan's overall goals.
Manage assets wisely
The Library will be a good steward of existing facilities by proactively maintaining aging building systems.
Design and build responsively
The Library will regularly update building interiors to remain responsive to neighborhood needs.
- Refresh of Petworth Library
- Refresh of Shaw Library, Anacostia Library, Benning Library, Tenley-Friendship Library
- Functional Assessments of Georgetown Library, Bellevue Library, Francis A. Gregory Library, Mt. Pleasant Library
- Functional Assessments of Rosedale Library, Deanwood Library, Northwest One Library, Parklands-Turner Library (if these locations are not replaced)
Grow equitably and smartly
The Library will seek ways to provide more equitable services to more residents across the District.
Facilities Master Plan Documents
English
- Facilities Master Plan: Executive Summary
- Facilities Master Plan
- Facilities Master Plan Appendices (General Library Information, Library Usage Assessment, and Community Engagement)
- Congress Heights Library Site Identification Study
Español
Français
한국어 / 조선말
Tiếng Việt
汉语
ኣማርኛ
Acknowledgement
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The recommendations expressed in this plan do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.