St. Charles Public Library

District Public Library

Suburban Civic Campus

The St. Charles Public Library first opened in 1908 following a construction substantially funded by Andrew Carnegie. The original “Carnegie Library” is revered by the St. Charles community; however, subsequent additions to the library to gain collection and program space reduced the historic cornerstone to inefficiently used square footage that is not integrated into the daily life of the library. In 2018, the library sought a comprehensive study of all library-owned property with the goal of defining a plan to remodel and/or expand the current facility.

The Youth Services Department takes its design cues from the adjacent terrace garden, utilizing rock and topographic patterning in the floor finishes and the forms and colors of blades of grass in the play area and book stack end panels.

The St. Charles Public Library contracted Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects to address the its functional challenges and aesthetic opportunities. SNHA’s proposed concept relocated the library entrance to the new addition, presenting an opportunity to positively affect the library’s civic identity with a more welcoming entry. The concept takes advantage of the library’s two-story space, reworking it into grand reading rooms with a concentration of seating and library tables. Functionality and flow was drastically improved by aligning the new entry on axis with the Carnegie building to re-integrate the space into the library’s daily use.

Client
St. Charles Public Library

Location
St. Charles, IL

Square Footage
66,500 square feet