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.