Libraries are long past the age when they were just a place to check out books.
And when the newly restored Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial library opens this fall, says D.C. Public Library Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan, that shift in meaning and mission will become even more apparent.
The $221 million rehabilitation of the city’s troubled flagship library, the only D.C. design by famed Modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, will feature an auditorium, creative spaces for art and music production, job-training opportunities, a cafe and rooftop terrace. Oh — and five miles worth of shelved books.
The hope is that when the biggest library project in the country is complete, and the limited edition MLK library cards become available, residents will be excited to re-engage with one of the 26 local library branches and the services they have to offer.
“Having people understand the significance of what is happening at MLK will create a ripple effect,” said Mr. Reyes-Gavilan, who will announce the opening date for the library this week. “That is a huge opportunity, blasted into the city’s consciousness, [to show] that libraries have changed, and here’s a 400,000-square-foot example of how they have changed.”
Hailed as an architectural masterpiece when it opened in 1972, the central library fell on hard times due to a lack of funding for maintenance. Patrons were forced to deal with broken water fountains, run-down and often non-working elevators and missing ceiling tiles.
After a program to spruce up smaller libraries throughout the city, MLK Memorial was closed in 2017 for a major overhaul.
When Mr. Reyes-Gavilan isn’t working on all things related to the MLK library, which takes up about 50% of his time, he is managing the budget of about $60 million, meeting with community members like he did last Tuesday to discuss the new Southeast Library, and gearing up to release the library’s master facilities plan in a couple of months.
The plan will guide the agency’s trajectory for the next 10 years, as the role libraries serve in communities is changing and the communities that are being served evolve.
The library, at a prime downtown location across from the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum, welcomes about 10,000 people a day and 4 million visits per year. Over the last five years, total circulation increased by 1 million and Wi-Fi connections increased by more than a third.
Kiosks to libraries
The new master plan will address updates for a number of smaller libraries across the city that started out as 1,000 square-foot book kiosks, which are now ready to expand again.
Mr. Reyes-Gavilan offered the example of the Parklands Turner Library, which he said will be getting a completely new building in Congress Heights.
When constructing and renovating libraries — which DCPL has started over 20 different library construction projects in the last 11 years — it is important to consider not just the opinions of those who show up for the community meetings but also those whom the libraries will serve in the next 15 years.
“We are open to everyone. While that is wonderful and democratic, it does pose challenges that not all agencies face,” said Mr. Reyes-Gavilan, noting the library’s role in promoting equality and inclusiveness. “We don’t have the luxury of serving a homogenous group.”
Libraries can help address issues of equity for homeless people directly by providing them with information on how to get access to affordable housing. In a larger sense, the library construction plan can focus on new libraries in mixed-use buildings, using the airspace above a library for housing.
The first step in promoting equity, however, is making sure that all 600 staff members are welcoming and open to everyone. Training on that has already begun, the executive director said.
“We mean we serve everyone,” Mr. Reyes-Gavilan said. “We don’t serve all readers, we serve all people. People come into our buildings for reasons that have nothing to do with reading or literature.”
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