Dallas City Council last week unanimously adopted a 20-year library facility plan that calls for a complete overhaul of downtown’s J. Erik Jonsson Central Library and the expansion or replacement of 11 other branches across the city.
The report, conducted by library leaders and a consulting firm from Northern California, found the central library in need of “major renovations” to address deferred and ongoing maintenance needs and design complications such as “malfunctioning” elevators, an “anonymous” exterior, “dark and austere” spaces and a “confusing” layout. The library’s eight stories outsize all other Dallas Public Library branches combined, but the abundance of floor space is being underutilized, the report states.
"I will not tell you that renovation would be a small job," Jill Eyres, associate principal of the consulting firm Group 4 Architecture, told the Arts and Culture Committee April 15.
Eyres pointed to other cities that have launched major library renovation projects in recent years, including Boston, Austin and Washington, D.C., as proof that reinvestments in downtown libraries spur development and tourist dollars.
Recommend improvements to the library determined by meetings with stakeholders include a light, airy and colorful interior, a recognizable building facade, a "welcoming" outdoor plaza, group meeting spaces and "interactive and creative features."
"I actually think our central library has great bones," Heather Lowe, assistant director of the Dallas Public Libraries, told the committee. "We have wonderful, natural light, and there's a lot that can be done with that building.
Expansions And Replacements
The plan also recommended the expansion or replacement of 11 library branches as the best way to support the region's projected population growth. All library branches need to be at least 25,000 square feet to support the 1.6 million people expected to live in Dallas by 2040, the facility plan says.
In an April 24 city council meeting, council member Cara Mendelsohn voiced support for the library system but said she did not feel the facility plan “accurately reflected the needs of District 12,” specifically plans for the Timberglen and Renner Frankford branches in far north Dallas. Mendelsohn said a black box theater, meeting spaces and better technology are all needed at District 12 libraries.
“The community has told me over and over and over again what they actually want,” she said. “I just want to make sure that there’s flexibility in there for you to hear what the community wants.”
Lowe said “extensive community feedback sessions” will be undertaken for any branch that receives a renovation or expansion rating, and the recommendations from the study are “largely pretty broad.”
Two of the libraries recommended for expansion or replacement and one found in need of renovation are addressed in the 2024 Bond, which goes before voters May 4. More than $32 million is slotted for the construction of new Park Forest and North Oak Cliff branch libraries, and $9 is earmarked to update the Preston Royal Branch. Additional funds will help bring several branches up to ADA standards.
That still leaves nine library branches in need of a rebuild. As for funding, Dallas Public Library needs to get “creative,” Lowe told the Observer.
“Generally our construction and expansion projects have been either bond-funded or a partnership with our nonprofit fundraising organization,” Lowe said. “We are trying to take a really creative and strategic look at how we expand our facilities. We really want to take a hard look at our relationships with other city departments … To see where we can overlap efforts where our goals align.”
