The Francis A. Gregory Library in Ward 7’s Hillcrest.

Ginnie Cooper, D.C.’s chief librarian, has been awarded the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. According to the institute, Cooper was given the award based on her initiative to renovate and rebuild public libraries across the city:

In July 2006, Cooper joined the District of Columbia Public Library as chief librarian and executive director. She was charged with transforming the public library at a time when its building stock was “in ruins, and scheduled replacements were uninspired,” according to the nomination letter by Jonathan Penndorf, AIA, president of AIA D.C. After 14 library renovations, and with three more projects in the pipeline, Cooper has the local architecture and design press wondering if she’s “the hottest thing in D.C. architecture,” according to Washington City Paper real estate and architecture reporter Lydia DePillis. “In only five years, Cooper forcibly injected not just the libraries, but the entire city, with the biggest shot of popular Modernism it’s ever seen, and likely ever will,” DePillis wrote.

In late June we paid a visit to the Francis Gregory Neighborhood Library in Ward 7 (pictured above) and the William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Library in Ward 8, both of which were designed by award-winning Tanzanian-born architect David Adjaye. In September, we stopped in to see the newly renovated Mt. Pleasant Branch Library.