Monthly Event

Learning from Undoing: The Reimagined Library for 21st Century Uses and Users

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Presentation

When

Thursday, December 5, 2019

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Where

Center for Architecture + Design, 1218 Arch Street

What

The Free Library has been undergoing significant renovations to its physical plant which incorporate an understanding and profile of the “new users” of the Free Library. Siobhan A. Reardon, president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia and James Pecora, vice president of property management, will present on a new model of service where neighborhood libraries directly respond to and meets the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods. Through adaptive reuse of historic, architecturally significant buildings alongside seismic shifts in the program of a public library, Reardon and Pecora will provide a view into the opportunities and challenges that have defined the library’s “Building Inspiration” initiative. For example, renovations to the Philadelphia's Parkway Central Library encompass new, modern spaces for entrepreneurs, job seekers, cultural and civic engagement, and community dialogue, as well as a center exclusively for teens.