We have "Library Envy" after visiting the Carmel, Indiana Library
Updated: 9 minutes ago
WOW! A Visit to Carmel's Public Library Offers Ideas for Lake Oswego
Michael and I visited the Carmel Clay Public Library in Carmel, Indiana, in October while visiting family. WOW! We were impressed!
We took lots of photos to give Lake Oswego residents a sense of what a modern public library can offer. There are so many wonderful ideas worth considering as Lake Oswego plans for our library's future.
Our current library is cozy, familiar and beloved. But is it workable for another 50 years? Probably not. We need to think beyond simply maintaining what we have today and consider what a library should offer our community for the next several decades.
Whether Lake Oswego ultimately chooses to substantially remodel, rebuild or relocate to a larger site, we have an opportunity to create a library that serves more people, offers more experiences and provides the space and parking needed for today's library services.
We don't need a 135,000-square-foot library
but we can benefit from seeing what one offers.
A library with a WOW FACTOR for all ages!
One thing that immediately stood out was how spacious the library felt. There were wide-open areas, beautiful windows, lots of natural light and inviting places to gather throughout the building.
Gorgeous entry area
Michael and I spent a Saturday afternoon exploring the library with my mother-in-law and niece, who is a fifth-grade teacher.
The children's area
The children's area on the ground floor was WONDERFUL!
There were large, open rooms with plenty of windows and spaces designed for children and families. This is also where they hold children's story hours.
Enjoy looking at the photos
A separate space just for teens
The teen area was equally impressive and completely separate from the children's and adult areas.
The high school is directly across the street, and the teen librarian I spoke with on Saturday told me that the area is packed with students after school.
There are comfortable places to hang out, study and socialize, along with numerous small, enclosed rooms with windows overlooking the teen space. These rooms provide places for tutoring, small-group meetings, studying and conversation.
The adult library upstairs
The adult area upstairs offered beautiful places to sit, read and study, especially along the windows.
There were also plenty of small rooms and larger meeting spaces for groups of different sizes.
Much more than books!
The library has dedicated areas for puzzles, movies, music, magazines and crafting. They have an Exploration Lab. There are specifically designed podcasting and recording facilities along with a music practice room.
There's a separate digital maker space on the ground floor with several 3D printers and a computer lab.
A café, bookstore and places to gather
On the main floor, there's a café and a bookstore, along with inviting spaces where people can sit, visit and gather near the windows.
These are the kinds of features that make a library more than a place to check out books. They make it a destination and a gathering place.
It's impressive from the outside as well
They've thought of everything—even parking and book pickup!
The building is impressive from the outside, too. But what really caught our attention were some of the practical features. There's an attached parking garage to help ensure adequate parking, a drive-through book drop-off area and lockers in the garage where patrons can pick up books they've placed on hold. It's clear that they thought about convenience and how people actually use their library in all kinds of weather.
What we learned about the Carmel, Indiana public library
The Carmel Clay Public Library's main location at 425 E. Main Street underwent a major renovation and expansion.
Here are some of the project details:
Cost: Approximately $37–40 million.
Completion: 2022.
Size: Approximately 135,000 square feet.
Expansion: A two-story addition and attached parking garage.
Features: Digital media lab, podcasting and recording facilities, expanded children's and teen areas, café, larger meeting rooms, outdoor event lawn and music practice room.
The main library was closed for approximately two years during construction. A library staff member I spoke with said they operated out of a vacant grocery store during that time so library services could continue.
The library's other location, the Joyce Winner West Branch, also received a renovation costing approximately $1.7 million. Improvements included HVAC, windows, exterior updates and a redesigned circulation desk.
How was the project funded?
What I learned doing some online research was that the main library's approximately $40 million renovation and expansion was funded primarily through municipal bonds backed by local tax revenues. Property tax revenues also contributed directly to the project. Carmel's local income taxes provide an important source of ongoing operating revenue for the library.
The library also received support from private donors, whose contributions are recognized on a donor wall inside the building.
What can Lake Oswego learn from Carmel, Indiana?
Let's be realistic. At approximately 135,000 square feet, Carmel's library is massive. It's probably far larger than what Lake Oswego needs or could reasonably afford.
Maybe visiting Carmel was like going to the Street of Dreams for libraries. We got to see the spectacular homes, admire the features and gather ideas. We might not be able to afford everything, but there are plenty of clever ideas worth borrowing!
For Lake Oswego, the important question isn't whether we can replicate Carmel. It's which services, spaces and features would bring the greatest value to our community?
Some ideas worth considering:
Dedicated, age-appropriate spaces for children, teens and adults.
More natural light, windows and inviting places to read and work.
Small study and tutoring rooms, along with larger meeting rooms.
Digital maker spaces and opportunities to explore technology.
Spaces for puzzles, music, movies and other activities.
A café or other welcoming gathering space.
Convenient parking, drive-through book returns and lockers for book pickup.
We should also look at libraries closer to home that may be more realistic benchmarks for Lake Oswego. The libraries being built or developed in Bend and Redmond, along with our neighbor in West Linn, are good places to learn about design, services, construction costs, funding and lessons learned.
Go check out the West Linn Library! It's lovely.
We recently visited the West Linn Public Library and were impressed. It's not as palatial as Carmel's library, but it's lovely. It has a nice balance of modern spaces, cozy areas, places where people can gather and spaces where they can find quiet.
One of our neighbors works there and shared some wonderful insights about the library and its operations. You can read more about that visit in our earlier blog post:
Benchmarking is part of the vision process. It's fun and free to gather ideas. This is why Pinterest is so popular.
If you've been to a great library, take photos and share those with Lake Oswego's library vision team.
We should be helping them to find great examples along with learning what's working, what isn't, what people actually use, what things cost and gathering lessons other communities have learned.
Let's define the services and experiences we want first. Then determine the right size, location, design and budget to deliver them. Our goal shouldn't be to build the biggest or fanciest library. It should be to create a financially responsible library that meets the needs of Lake Oswego residents today and for generations to come.
And if we can borrow a few of Carmel's great ideas along the way, even better!
Other blog posts about the library:
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