Group 4 Architecture, Research +Planning (Group 4), hired by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to create a plan for re-envisioning the Main Library’s two buildings and the Price Hill Branch are hosting listening-and-learning sessions Wednesday, Sept. 26, and Thursday, Sept. 27, to solicit community feedback to inform project planning.
On Wednesday, Sept. 26, library staff and design and planning consultants from Group 4 are holding two different listening-and-learning sessions to hear from the community about how the two buildings which comprise the Main Library might be reconfigured to better meet their needs.
The first session, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., consists of an open house where anyone can drop in to share ideas and ask questions. The second session, 6:30-8 p.m., is a structured meeting to outline the basic steps and timeline for upgrading the Main Library’s two buildings and to explain opportunities community members have to be a part of the process. Both events are being held in the atrium of the Main Library, 800 Vine St.
On Thursday, Sept. 27, library staff and Group 4 also are holding two sessions regarding the Price Hill Branch. The open house is being held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and the structured meeting is from 6:30-8 p.m. Both of these sessions are being held at the Price Hill Recreation Center, 959 Hawthorne Ave.
All of these events are open meetings and anyone interested in attending is welcome. For those unable to attend either event, an online survey are being distributed later this fall. These sessions and the survey are the first step towards creating a facilities master plan for the entire library system.
A construction project at the Main Library began in April and involves replacing carpeting and brick flooring on all three floors and renovation of the first-floor restrooms. That work is scheduled to be completed in September. The library’s decision earlier this year to keep both the south and north buildings of the Main Library has created an opportunity to rethink how they are configured and to identify solutions and opportunities so that they better serve the public.
The Price Hill Branch closed July 3 due to significant damage to the ceiling. The branch is temporarily relocated in the Price Hill Recreation Center. The Price Hill Branch was one of the branches in line for extensive renovations, including adding accessibility for people with disabilities, using funds from a 1-mill levy approved by Hamilton County voters this May. Price Hill is now the priority facilities project due to the ceiling collapse.
Group 4 is based in San Francisco, California. Their body of work includes extensive work with the Dayton Metro (OH) Library, Multnomah County Library (OR), Johnson County (KS) Library, Jefferson County (CO) Public Library as well as libraries in Carlsbad, CA and San Francisco, CA.
For more information about these planning sessions, please visit www.CincinnatiLibrary.org or call 513-369-6900.
