When it finally opens to the public on Saturday, the newly renovated Southwest Library will come with one fewer floor than the original building, but far more features and usable space.

Two floors of spacious seating areas, stacked shelves, and meeting rooms are all bathed in natural light thanks to massive window panels that face toward the Capitol. A playground dotted with towering trees sits a few steps from the outdoor reading patio at the front of the library. (The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation contributed half a million dollars towards improving the existing playground.)

The library closed in June 2019, and an interim location opened a few blocks away on M Street to prepare for the $18 million renovation project. Workers broke ground for the new building in February of 2020. The renovated space comes as a boon for residents who got used to the dimly lit library that used to stand at 900 Wesley Place SW, a lot that was almost sold off to developers years ago.

The library’s wooded setting is intentional — it goes along with the DC Public Library’s goal of creating an ecofriendly campus where readers can escape the hustle of the city as it emerges from the pandemic. It’s the city’s first LEED Platinum-certified branch, thanks to its sustainable construction and green roof with solar panels that provide half the building’s energy. Jaspreet Pahwa, DCPL’s director of planning and construction, says the landscaping around the building is all indigenous and adapted species. These plants help reduce the building’s carbon footprint and improve the quality of the water that gets discharged into the city’s storm water system, Pahwa says.

The building was designed by Perkins+Will Architects and built by Turner Construction.

“As we are coming out of the pandemic, this is a huge shot in the arm for the city,” says DCPL Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan. “We are really just thrilled to provide this inspirational structure made almost exclusively of this mass timber and glass.”

Most of the 20,000-square-foot building was manufactured in Vancouver and shipped to D.C. to be put together like a kit of parts, which helped contribute to its high marks for sustainability, he says.

The original Southwest Library opened as a two-story wing of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Junior High School in 1941, before a separate, more brutalist building opened at its current location in 1965. Advisory Neighborhood Commission and Southwest Business Improvement District meetings took place in the building’s dark, low-ceilinged basement, which didn’t exactly meet the standards of the civic-minded neighborhood. The new building better fits the ethos of the community that surrounds the library, Reyes-Gavilan says.

“The construction went up really fast, but the predesign work — getting funding for this project, [deciding] ultimately where the building would be, what would it look like, how it would address community needs — it was all a very long onerous project,” says Reyes-Gavilan.

A large wall welcomes visitors at the entrance, featuring a magnified photo of the Southwest waterfront in 1885. The wall also acts as a sound dampener.

The library has modern furniture throughout — think Corian tables and Herman Miller Italian chairs  — three conference rooms for 12 to 20 people, and a large meeting room that fits more than 100 people with its own separate entrance on the first floor. One of the conference rooms will have 3D printers. As many locals continue to work and attend classes remotely, Reyes-Gavilan expects residents will enjoy the library’s free Wi-Fi and four individual study rooms, which can be booked for two-hour periods. Each floor comes with outdoor balconies with additional seating.

Most of the first floor is dedicated to children’s learning. One corner features amphitheater seating, movable chairs and tables, and a wall that will eventually be covered with a mural painted by a local artist, Reyes-Gavilan says. Another corner includes round “cocoon” chairs where kids can kick their feet up to read and write.

This project marks the DCPL’s 21st branch to get a significant makeover since 2009, part of the library’s overall plan to renovate its branches.

“It’s hard to say that we’ll ever be done [with renovations],” Reyes-Gavilan says. “We’ve got a couple other libraries that are in construction and design. But we have a few that we’re still thinking through.”

The Southwest branch will open on May 15 with limited in-person service, though Reyes-Gavilan says he anticipates making changes to DCPL protocols soon, given Mayor Muriel Bowser’s recent lifts on capacity restrictions. City officials, including Mayor Bowser and Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, are expected to attend an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony, and opening events will include an outdoor storytime.

Southwest Library, 900 Wesley Place SW; Open Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

This story has been updated to correct Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen’s title.