Eleven libraries recognized in American Libraries’ 2021 Library Design Showcase

CHICAGO — Eleven new and renovated libraries—and the architecture firms that designed them—have been recognized in American Libraries’ 2021 Library Design Showcase, which appears in the magazine’s September/October issue, available online today.

In its 33rd annual iteration, the showcase honors innovative and interesting constructions across the United States and Canada that effectively address library user needs. To be considered, new constructions, renovations, and expansions must have been completed between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021. This year’s highlighted projects—a mix of public, academic, and school libraries—were all finished during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s recognized libraries are:

Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, Michigan
Architect: Luckenbach Ziegelman Gardner Architects

Cincinnati and Hamilton County (Ohio) Public Library, Price Hill branch
Architects: Fishbeck; Interior Project Management

D. H. Hill Jr. Library at North Carolina State University in Raleigh
Architect: Lord Aeck Sargent

East Baton Rouge (La.) Parish Library, River Center branch
Architects: WHLC Architecture; Schwartz/Silver Architects

Fayetteville (Ark.) Public Library
Architect: MSR Design

Homestead (Fla.) Cybrarium
Architect: DLR Group

John and Claudia Belk Upper School Learning Center at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Day School
Architect: Centerbrook Architects and Planners

Meridian (Idaho) Library District, unBound branch
Architect: MSR Design

Neilson Library at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts
Architects: Bialosky + Partners; Maya Lin Studio; Shepley Bulfinch

Salt Lake City Public Library, Sprague branch
Architects: Arch Nexus; Margaret Sullivan Studio

Stanley A. Milner Library, Edmonton (Alberta) Public Library
Architect: Teeple Architects

Be sure to listen to Episode 65 of the Call Number with American Libraries podcast later this September, which will highlight stories related to architecture and design.