|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2006
Contact:
, Austin Public Library, (512) 974-7528
Fax: (512) 974-7442
New Design Model for the North Village Branch Replacement Project
View the architect's presentation below.
On Tuesday, June 20 at 6:30p.m. at the North Village Branch, 2139 W. Anderson Lane, Austin Public Library, held a community design review meeting for the construction of the new North Village Branch. In the 1998 City of Austin G.O. Bond Election voters approved funding for the land acquisition, design and construction of the North Village Branch Library Replacement Project. This project will provide an 11,000 SF permanent home for the North Village Branch Library, which has been housed in leased spaces since its inception in 1970. It is presently located in a 5,000 SF storefront space in the Star Home Shopping Center at 2139 W. Anderson Lane, near the intersection of Anderson Lane and Burnet Road. By January, 2000, the Austin City Council had approved of the acquisition of roughly one and a half acres at 2505 Steck Avenue to serve as the new site for the North Village Branch Library. At the start of 2003, Limbacher & Godfrey, Inc., were hired as the consultant architects for the project.
A very productive design input meeting was held with the community and customers of the North Village Branch in February of 2003, and the architects were just completing schematic design of the new library in September of 2003 when the City of Austin was unfortunately forced to put most of its construction projects, including the North Village Branch Library Replacement Project, on hold for two years due to the economic downturn suffered throughout the Central Texas region. While the project was on hold, Library staff and the consultant architects used the time to research models for branch library services delivery which had proved successful in other parts of the world. It was discovered that "the library for the future " model first championed by the Ironwood Branch Library in British Columbia, and subsequently benchmarked by the San Jose Public Library among other innovative library systems, was proving to be extremely popular among library customers. Indeed, circulation rates at branch libraries recast in this mold were more than doubling in many instances. The "library for the future" model borrows many of its attributes from upscale bookstores, and now those design concepts have been incorporated into the plans for the new North Village Branch Library. Please plan to attend the North Village Branch Library Design Review Meeting on Tuesday, June 20, 2006, at the current lease space library, to view and comment on this radical new approach for library services delivery adopted by the Austin Public Library. For more information contact John Gillum Library Facilities Planning, at 974-7495 or email at john.gillum@ci.austin.tx.us.
The Grand Opening of the new North Village Branch Library is scheduled for January 24, 2009.
Information about the Library's ongoing Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) is available.
###
|
