For immediate release | September 1, 2020
Thirteen libraries recognized in American Libraries’ 2020 Library Design Showcase
CHICAGO — Thirteen new and renovated libraries—and the architecture firms that designed them—have been recognized in American Libraries’ 2020 Library Design Showcase, which appears in the magazine’s September/October issue and is available online today.
In its 32nd annual iteration, the showcase honors innovative and interesting constructions that effectively address library user needs in the United States and Canada. To have been considered, new constructions, renovations, and expansions had to have been completed between May 1, 2019, and April 30, 2020. This year’s highlighted projects—a mix of public, academic, and special libraries—were all finished before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered buildings around the globe.
This year’s recognized libraries are:
Charles Library at Temple University in Philadelphia
Architects: Snøhetta; Stantec
The Community Library in Ketchum, Idaho
Architect: RATIO
Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore
Architect: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners, Sandra Vicchio and Associates, Ayers Saint Gross
Hesburgh Library at University of Notre Dame in Indiana
Architects: Shepley Bulfinch; Alliance Architects
Library Learning Center at Texas Southern University in Houston
Architect: Moody Nolan
Lutnick Library at Haverford (Pa.) College
Architect: Perry Dean Rogers Partners Architects
Lyons (Colo.) Community Library
Architect: RATIO
Newport Beach (Calif.) Public Library, Corona Del Mar branch
Architect: WLC Architects
Pierson Library in Shelburne, Vermont
Architect: Vermont Integrated Architecture
Providence (R.I.) Public Library
Architect: designLAB Architects
Toledo–Lucas County (Ohio) Public Library, Main Library
Architect: HBM Architects
Toronto (Ont.) Public Library, North York Central Library
Architect: Diamond Schmitt Architects
Union County (S.C.) Carnegie Library
Architect: McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture
Other inspiring architecture and design content in American Libraries’ September/October 2020 issue includes a feature about how pandemic-responsive design is merging future-facing innovations with present-day needs, and an excerpt from Encoding Space: Shaping Learning Environments that Unlock Human Potential by Brian Mathews and Leigh Ann Soistmann (ACRL, 2016).
Be sure to listen to Episode 53 of the Dewey Decibel podcast (bit.ly/deweydecibel), which highlights stories related to architecture and design.
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