For Immediate Release: Monday, April 27, 2015
The new Silver Spring Library, at 900 Wayne Avenue, will open on Saturday, June 20 at 11 a.m. A Grand Opening ceremony is being planned for the public to celebrate Montgomery County Public Libraries’ (MCPL) newest building in its award-winning system.
“I share the excitement of the Silver Spring library customers and advocates who have waited a long time for this day,” said County Executive Ike Leggett. “The opening of the impressive building marks yet another new chapter in the re-development of Downtown Silver Spring and introduces a new landmark in the community.”
Silver Spring staff will move to the new building to begin the final preparation required to open the branch. Over the weeks ahead, they will:
• Transfer materials from the old branch and add new books and materials;
• Organize and shelve materials;
• Organize staff work areas and furnishings in public areas;
• Become familiar with the facility; and
• Train on new equipment.
“I am extremely delighted about the opening of this 21st- century library that will blend books, programs, services and technology,” said MCPL Director Parker Hamilton. “This urban library will definitely add a new vibe to Downtown Silver Spring.”
The five -story building will house the library on the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor is the entry floor to the library portion of the building with access provided from both the Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street entrances.
The meeting room, media collection, Young Adult area, Accessibility Center and main customer service work area are located on the third floor.
Adult collections, small conference rooms and a large quiet study room overlooking the Wayne Avenue side of Silver Spring are on the fourth floor.
On the fifth floor is the children’s floor with an integrated pre-K early learning area, program room, tutor rooms and a dual purpose staff and community large conference room.
Kefa Café, a Silver Spring-based coffee house/eatery serving gourmet, organic, fair trade coffee, pastries and sandwiches, will be located on the first floor by the Fenton Street entrance near the escalators.
The building is the first in the system to contain escalators and to share its site with a housing complex. It is also the first to provide 24/7 pick-up for items on hold via book lockers on the first floor. Technological firsts include a tech bar featuring new technologies that customers can handle and try out in the branch, use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) scanners that will check out multiple items at once, plus conveyor belts in the book drop room and staff workroom that will automatically check in items with both RFID tags and barcodes.
The overall building – designed by the architectural firm The Lukmire Partnership, Inc. and built by Costello Construction of Maryland -- is approximately 90,000 square feet. Partial funding for this project was provided by the County Library Capital Grant Program, Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Library Development and Services.
Among the amenities of the LEED Silver building are:
• a large digital sign on Wayne Avenue that will identify the building and announce upcoming events;
• improved WiFi response time and stability;
• increased access to outlets for mobile-device users;
• charging stations where customers can recharge electronic devices while using the library; and
• 10 conference rooms that can be booked online.
Some familiar pieces of memorabilia from the old library will make the move to the new structure, including the lion statue that will be on the fifth floor green roof and the historic post office mural to be located on the third floor by the Fenton Street entrance. The old library at 8901 Colesville Rd. opened in 1957 and closed its doors on March 15.
More details on the new building project are on the DGS construction project website and the MCPL Silver Spring Library website.