Community Design Meeting Summary and Compilation of Public Comments

Location: Tenley-Friendship Interim Library, 4200 Wisconsin Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20016

Meeting Purpose: Final public meeting to provide the community with an opportunity to help shape the design of the new Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library. The design team made a brief presentation of the schematic designs for the new library. Following this, the design team and staff were available to discuss the project and answer questions. Meeting participants also provided written comments during the facilitated discussion.

Meeting Format: Presentation and interactive workshop format

• The presentation included an overview of project implementation and a discussion of design options.
• A facilitated discussion allowed participants to provide comments and ask questions of DC Public Library (DCPL) staff and the design team.
• Participants were encouraged to submit suggestions for titles to be included in the new library’s collection.

Attendees: Forty-six community members added their names to the sign-in sheet. Ginnie Cooper, Archie Williams, Jeff Bonvechio, Kim Fuller, Barbara Norland, Elissa Miller, Martha Saccocio and the Tenley-Friendship Interim Library staff represented the DC Public Library. Phil Freelon, Richard Kuhn and Zena Howard represented the Freelon Group. The following members of the CirclePoint consulting team attended the meeting: W. Steve Lee and Tosin Durotoye.

Summary of Community Meeting Comments
Library User Issues

• Want to be sure the children’s program area will accommodate large groups of children.
• Be sure to make adequate provisions for security detail/surveillance.

Library Use Issues

• Toddlers and school-aged children should have separate play areas in the library.
• It would be helpful to have study rooms accessible after hours.
• Children’s space should be sound-proofed from the rest of the library.

Library Design Issues (Interior)

• Consider making the lower shelves in the children’s area a bit higher. This way parents and other adults won’t have to bend too low to select books for children.
• Please incorporate multiple community meeting spaces in the new library.
• Consider installing a portable separation to divide the larger meeting room into smaller spaces.
• Would like to see a warmer color palette for the library interior.
• Put children’s room upstairs so children are not put on display in the downstairs section as they are now.

Collection

• Looks like stack area is not all that considerable compared to the Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library.
• There will be at least 80,000 items in the new library’s collection.
• Include college resource books in the collection to support advanced classes.

Library Design Issues (Exterior)
Sustainability

• The underground stream on the site has been adequately reviewed.
• Consider more efficient chillers instead of a green roof.
• Raised floors will be installed in the interior of the new library.
• DCPL and the design team are pursuing a Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) silver certification. The LEED Green Building Rating System is developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.
• Worried about the long-term maintenance cost of the green roof.
• Consider allocating money meant for the green roof to another much needed library feature.

Exterior Features

• Be sure that exterior fins protect books from sunlight damage.
• Make library signage visible from the Tenleytown Metro Station.
• Would like to see windows on the west side of building.

Miscellaneous

• Would like to say the proposed design looks great.
• Please work to minimize disruption to nearby schools and other community neighbors during construction.
• A model of the proposed library design will be on display at the interim library.
• Would like to speak on behalf of Saint Ann’s Church and say that the parish would like the library built as soon as possible.
• Would like to present a unanimous rejection against joint development.

Summary of Comment Card Comments
Library Design Issues (Interior)

• Concerned about the safety of using blue stone on interior floors.
• Would like to encourage sanitary practices when eating and drinking in the library so as to prevent roach and mold infestation.
• Please keep the children’s area separated from the computers and general public areas where people need quiet space. The noise and disruption from the children in the current interim library is extremely irritating and disrespectful.

Other

• The meeting was well presented and organized. Thank you for an informative program.
• Your design seems to be well advanced and is lovely. Please build it as soon as possible. We have been without a proper library for four years.
• Please hold laser pointer steady and only motion when defining project perimeters.
• Congratulations on providing a beautiful and distinctive piece of “civic” architecture for our Tenleytown neighborhood. Please do not let the District government prevent or delay this unique building from proceeding to construction.
• Delaying construction for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) will waste millions of taxpayers’ dollars and result in higher construction costs over time, not to mention additional costs needed to extend the lease of the interim library for at least two additional years.
• A PPP will delay construction and, in the process, deny residents, especially children, access to a full service library for another two years at least.
• The District government needs to understand the concept of “civic” architecture and the role it plays in a community and the fact that “civic” buildings deserve a distinctive form because their role is different from that of other buildings.
• Please insist that the Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning and Economic Development provides the design team with a realistic and detailed construction timeline.

Book collection suggestions are still being accepted for the new Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library. Construction on the library is scheduled to begin this fall, and the new library is set to open in the early months of 2010.

For more information:  Log on to www.dclibrary.org or contact Archie Williams, DC Public Library at archie.williams@dc.gov or 202-727-1437.