St. Charles Public Library
Renovation and modest expansion of an existing, 57,000-square-foot building consisting of a 1906 Carnegie Library and past additions that had marginalized the original historic structure
Location
St. Charles, Illinois
Client
City of St. Charles
Size
68,000 square feet
Cost
$15.2 million
The St. Charles Public Library first opened in 1908 following a construction substantially funded by Andrew Carnegie. This 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 unintegrated from 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.
Woolpert addressed the library's functional challenges and aesthetic opportunities and proposed relocating the library's entrance to a 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 the space into grand reading rooms with a concentration of seating and library tables. Functionality and flow are drastically improved by aligning the new entry on axis with the Carnegie building to re-integrate the space into the library’s daily use. The concept takes a campus design approach to the entire library property and integrates green space, outdoor activity areas, parking, and a drive-up window in planning that is safe for both pedestrians and drivers.
