Next Libris: Library Facilities Master Plan
Next Libris: Library Facilities Master Plan
Aligning Future Library Services with Community Needs
Overview | Facilities Master Planning Goals | The Planning Process
| Current Library System & Gaps in Service | Recommendations | Facilities Master Plan Documents
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 wiselyThe Library will be a good steward of existing facilities by proactively maintaining aging building systems.
Design and build responsivelyThe Library will regularly update building interiors to remain responsive to neighborhood needs.
Grow equitably and smartlyThe 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.
Learn more about the planning process.
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.
- Maintain existing facilities according to the Facilities Conditions Assessments database
- Rebuild Chevy Chase Library
Systems Renewal Projects, 2021-2030 |
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Years 1-3 |
Years 4-6 |
Years 7-10 |
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Mt. Pleasant |
Georgetown |
Tenley-Friendship |
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)
Functional Refresh Projects, 2021-2030 |
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Years 1-3 |
Years 4-6 |
Years 7-10 |
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Grow equitably and smartly
The Library will seek ways to provide more equitable services to more residents across the District.
Tier One |
Tier Two |
Tier Three |
|---|---|---|
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Address existing operational issues and service gaps |
Address existing operational issues only |
Address existing service gaps only |
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Facilities Master Plan Documents
English- Facilities Master Plan: Executive Summary
- Facilities Master Plan
- Appendix A: General Library Information
- Appendix B: Library Usage Assessment
- Appendix C: Community Engagement
- Congress Heights Library Site Identification Study
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