The Free Library of Philadelphia has announced a $60 million multi-branch development initiative. It will involve not only the significant renovation and expansion of the
Parkway Central Library, but of five initial prototype libraries throughout the city. Each will be modernized with the specific needs of their communities in mind.
Known as "
Building Inspiration: 21st Century Libraries," the multi-faceted plan will be funded in part by $4.5 million from the City of Philadelphia and a historic $25 million gift from the
William Penn Foundation. According to a release, the funds from William Penn represent "the largest private gift ever received by the Library."
According to Director and President Siobhan Reardon, the concept for "Building Inspiration" grew from the Free Library's Strategic Plan (
PDF) -- essentially a reorganizational effort drawn up after the Library lost roughly 20 percent of its funding from the City and the Commonwealth in 2008 and 2009.
Part of that plan involved looking at the ways in which technology is altering basic library services.
"The changes we've announced are all about how to create an engaging 21st-century library in an older building," explains Reardon.
At the 87-year-old Parkway Central branch, for instance, an 8,000-square-foot area called
The Common will be designed by architect
Moshe Safdie to operate as a flexible and active community gathering space. The South Philadelphia Library will be fitted with a 'Health Information and New Americans' room. The Logan Library will be getting a family literacy center. The Lovett Memorial, Tacony and Lillian Marrero branches will also see progressive improvements.
"I think what you're going to find interesting at the neighborhood libraries is a very open experience," says Reardon, who adds that most branches should reopen in late 2016. "It's going to be a much more civically-engaged social learning environment."
Writer: Dan Eldridge
Source: Siobhan Reardon, Free Library of Philadelphia