The public library has always served as a “third place”—sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s term for a space where people can gather and relax together, away from their homes and workplaces. In the digital age, library systems are dedicating more space than ever to community-serving functions, granting vital opportunities for in-the-flesh interaction.
The following five libraries incorporate a wide range of functions, including a makerspace, coworking facilities, a commercial kitchen, a disaster shelter, a public square, and outdoor spaces where patrons can chat, take in views, or just read alone together.
1. Brisbane Library
Brisbane, California
Having outgrown its old library space on the second floor of the city’s community center, the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Brisbane sought a larger facility that would help knit together residents of newly developed areas with people living downtown. Siegel & Strain Architects of Emeryville, California, with Karin Payson architecture + design of San Francisco as associate architect, configured the building as two wings. The library portion fronts the main street, with a small garden serving as a patio for casual interaction. The community room/makerspace has its own entrance on a side street, for use when the library is closed.
A courtyard and children’s garden occupy the spot where the two wings converge and provide outdoor space for various programs. Natural light floods the interiors, and the community room frames a view of nearby San Bruno Mountain. The all-electric building incorporates natural ventilation and relies on deep overhangs for shading. Three times the size of its predecessor, the Brisbane Library opened in 2021.
2. Colbern Road Library Center
Lee’s Summit, Missouri
In 2016, voters approved a $113 million capital improvement campaign for all of Mid-Continent Public Library’s branches. The revamp included a replacement, twice the size of the outdated facility on Colbern Road, with a new building that doubles as a coworking facility, encouraging connections among local entrepreneurs and small businesses. Opened in 2021, the building is also the headquarters for the library system’s small business division, which offers an array of services and programming to help start-ups and fledgling companies.
The Kansas City offices of Helix Architecture + Design and Sapp Design Architects incorporated a paper airplane motif to signify the transfer of information. On the interior, a trail of multicolored paper airplanes leads visitors to key areas. On the exterior, a perforated, folded metal wall gives the building’s upper volume a distinctive presence. Coworkers can choose from a variety of meeting rooms and workspaces, including a coffee shop. Even the children’s area has room for kids to work together. A generous staircase serves as a venue for presentations and as a casual space for hanging out.
3. Mount Vernon Library Commons
Mount Vernon, Washington
Home to 36,000 people, the rural city of Mount Vernon—the major urban center for Skagit County, Washington—completed a new downtown library and community hub that incorporates extensive sustainability and resilience strategies. Because of the area’s weak soils, the building is designed to stringent seismic standards so it can double as a disaster shelter. It has a commercial kitchen that’s available for local entrepreneurs to rent and that can operate as a community kitchen during emergencies. Local firm HKP Architects designed the facility to Passive House standards so occupants can be comfortable even amid extreme weather events such as wildfire smoke.
Completed in 2024, the facility includes a 20,545 square foot (1,909 sq m) library, an 11,490 square foot (1,067 sq m) community center, three stories of structured parking, and a large charging station for electric vehicles. A terrace on the second floor provides outdoor space for the community; a rooftop deck offers views of the Skagit River. Construction was funded by public money without requiring local tax increases.
4. Shanghai Library East
Shanghai, China
In China’s Tang Dynasty, scholars gathered around Taihu stones in gardens to draw inspiration from their evocative, water-eroded shapes. In designing Shanghai Library East, the local studio of Schmidt Hammer Lassen took cues from these rocks, giving the building a polyhedral shape and supporting it on two pavilions to be visible above the trees of the adjacent Century Park. One pavilion holds a 1,200-seat theater, as well as exhibition and event spaces; the other incorporates a children’s library, a courtyard, and outdoor play spaces. Both pavilions support outdoor, roofed, landscaped reading rooms.
A repository for nearly 5 million books, the facility opened in 2022 and hosts lectures, performances, and other events. The lower floor includes exhibition space, a bookstore, a café, and a central plaza. A grand central atrium affords views of the library’s seven levels. On the exterior, marble swirls printed onto the façade’s glass panels filter daylight. Public art includes site-specific installations by ten local artists.
5. Widna Haven Community Center and Library
Gdynia, Poland
The new Widna Haven Community Center and Library stands at a busy intersection. To shelter the interiors from traffic noise, the design team—local firms PB/STUDIO, studiomania, and IPA Ipreferanalog—configured the complex as two volumes that open to an internal courtyard. The façade’s vertical wooden slats support climbing plants and provide acoustic buffering.
Terrazzo paving extends from the interiors to the courtyard square and transitions to terraced seating that navigates the sloping site and creates an amphitheater-like setting for outdoor events, workshops, and film screenings. Other seating areas and chess tables are tucked throughout the courtyard, which is landscaped with fruit trees and ornamental grasses and includes a fountain. Both the library and community center buildings have rooftop terraces open to the public. The complex opened in 2023.
