2025 Update
This update to Next Libris, DC Public Library’s 2020 Facilities Master Plan, comes four years after the plan was first published, and takes into account revised demographic data, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on library usage, and the city-wide impact of the modernized Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (which was closed for renovation during the creation of the original plan).
As stated in the original plan, “Next Libris is a living document that will be updated as new information is available so the Library remains responsive to community needs.” The 2025 update accounts for the recent local and global disruptions that impact how DC Public Library approaches changes to its physical campus. It is important to note that the update does not change the overall thinking of Next Libris as a ten-year plan ending in 2030. The update also does not change the original plan’s stated goal to contribute to the success of the District’s Comprehensive Plan and housing production goals.
View the Library Facilities Master Plan Update
As part of the Library's ongoing work to implement the Facilities Master Plan, two additional studies were conducted in FY25 to inform the Library's plans.
View the New Library in Edgewood/Eckington Site Selection Process and Community Engagement Report
Next Libris: Library Facilities Master Plan
Overview
The DC Public Library is a vital learning institution committed to supporting the needs of all residents regardless of where they live, their income or educational attainment.
Next Libris, the DC Public Library’s Facilities Master Plan, articulates the Library’s commitment to not only maintain the city’s public libraries, but to adapt them for new uses and continue to pursue strategic opportunities to grow and give even more residents access to this increasingly vital engine of community life. The Plan comes as the Library nears completion of a 10-year transformation in which 24 of 26 libraries will be new or fully modernized by 2024, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the District’s central library.
DC Public Library developed the Facilities Master Plan to help guide its physical service delivery strategy for the next 10 years and beyond. It is aspirational and proposes that in the future, the Library will need to and should serve more residents, more equitably, than it does today. The Library will accomplish this by tailoring libraries to respond to individual community needs and by growing the system to meet the needs of an expanding city.
Next Libris is a living document that will be updated as new information becomes available, enabling the Library to respond to changing circumstances and opportunities. The plan was developed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, which we know may have profound long-term impacts on city services.
Facilities Master Planning Goals
This Facilities Master Plan has three goals. These goals collectively frame the Library’s decision-making philosophy for investments over the next decade. Drafted with Library staff and later refined through a robust community engagement process, the goals are
as follows:
Manage assets wisely
The Library will be a good steward of existing facilities by proactively maintaining aging building systems.
Design and build responsively
The Library will regularly update building interiors to remain responsive to neighborhood needs.
Grow equitably and smartly
The Library will seek ways to provide more equitable services to more residents across the District of Columbia.
The Planning Process
The Library reviewed background information, collected and analyzed data and engaged with stakeholders and the community to get a fresh look at how well the existing footprint is meeting community needs. This approach informed a set of comprehensive findings and recommendations that position the Library to better serve residents.
What Is the Plan?
The plan:
- Analyzes how customers currently use libraries and what services might be needed or expanded.
- Explores the impact of city growth on how we deliver library services.
- Engages the community in conversations to ensure future planning aligns with community needs.
- Evaluates the condition of library buildings and help us plan for future maintenance needs.
The Library Facilities Master Plan provides a framework to ensure future investments in DC Public Library services are responsive to community needs.
Why Now?
Over the past decade, DC Public Library has invested a half-billion dollars in renovating and rebuilding the city's libraries. To date, 19 projects are complete, with five more libraries in the design or construction phase. These new buildings have raised the bar for what D.C. residents expect in library service.
Every measure of use has grown tremendously. Library circulation has increased 250 percent in the past decade. The Library now welcomes nearly 4 million visitors per year.
The way libraries are used can differ by neighborhood. In some locations, meeting rooms are more in demand while public computers or books are the most used service at other locations. As such, there is potential to increase use even more by customizing building programs based on community needs. In addition, as neighborhoods in D.C. have changed and grown over the past several decades, some residents are without easy access to a neighborhood library.
The Library Facilities Master Plan helps steer decision making. The Plan also helps the Library work with elected leaders to determine funding priorities.
Community Meetings
In late February and early March 2019, the Library hosted four community meetings across the city to gather initial input from residents about current and future Library needs.
The Library hosted a second round of community meetings to share results of the work to date and how the plan is taking shape.
View the community meeting presentation here.
Feedback gathered at these meetings will helped us refine the planning goals and develop the recommendations.
Community Engagement
The Library conducted extensive community engagement in developing the plan.
Surveys | The Library conducted a survey to gain more in-depth insight into what residents want from their public library. More than 1,200 residents responded to the survey with responses from 28 zip codes across the city.
Community Meetings | The Library hosted six community meetings during the development of the Library Facilities Master Plan to ensure the plan aligns with community needs.
Focus Groups | The Library conducted 8 focus groups with a range of audiences including current library customers, D.C. residents who do not currently use the library, Spanish speaking residents, teens and others who may face barriers to accessing library services.
Email | Residents were invited to submit comments via email if they weren't able to participate in the community meetings. We received more than 100 comments.
Read the 2020 Facilities Master Plan
English
- Facilities Master Plan: Executive Summary
- Facilities Master Plan
- Facilities Master Plan Appendices (General Library Information, Library Usage Assessment, and Community Engagement)
- Congress Heights Library Site Identification Study
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한국어 / 조선말
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汉语
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Acknowledgement
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The recommendations expressed in this plan do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.