Instead of sharing the space, the D.C. Public Library will occupy all of the renovated Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial branch, as more room is needed.
An original estimate of 250,000 square feet has been upped to 425,000. Mecanoo, Martinez and Johnson Architecture, the team selected earlier this year to renovate the Mies van der Rohe-designed library, determined more space was needed to accommodate ideas suggested by the public like, a cafe and restaurant, rooms for community meetings and a larger teen and children’s section. According to a release, more than 3,000 submitted input online, at community meetings and in other ways.
DCPL considered sharing the building, perhaps as a mixed-use development with residential units.
“In short, the aim is to go beyond a library that is merely transactional – a place where
you go simply to checkout a book – to create a library that truly transforms lives – a
world-class library for the 21st Century,” DCPL writes in a new planning document.
