DALLAS — Dallas' often-criticized central library could eventually get a major overhaul, its first since opening more than 40 years ago — if Dallas Public Library officials get the funding they want from city leaders.
Library leaders and consultants have proposed significant renovations at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library to address deferred and regular maintenance needs; improve the building's performance and resiliency; and modernize service and operations to match the library's strategic goals.
Built in 1982, the downtown library spans more than 600,000 square feet at 1515 Young St., across from Dallas City Hall. It is one of the largest public libraries in the U.S. and has more floor space than all other Dallas Public Library branches combined. The building faces both architectural and structural challenges that the city outlined in a long-term facilities plan released in March.
"There are really wonderful examples of cities that have lovely, giant brutalist buildings, like our Central Library, and the interventions they have done," Heather Lowe, assistant director of the Dallas Public Library, toid Dallas City Council members during an April 15 Arts and Culture Committee meeting. "I actually think our central library has great bones. We have wonderful, natural light, and so there's a lot that can be done with that building."
Library officials and consultants were not kind to the building in the March report on the facilities plan, pointing to what they call a dim and unwelcoming entry, a fortress-like service desk and a lack of signage to help customers navigate.
"The library’s exterior is anonymous, with few elements that show that it’s a library and public resource for all Dallasites," library officials and consultants wrote. "The building is also imposing to visitors, looming and closed off where it could be welcoming. The spaces leading into Central Library are dark and austere, featuring paving and little else."
They included this quote from a 2018 column by Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster titled "Austin is Reinventing the Public Library, and Dallas Should Too":
"This city’s own central library, which opened in 1982, is verging on obsolescence, a dated relic from a generation past. Like its more distinguished neighbor, City Hall, it is an unyielding concrete fortress, but without the sense of internal drama. The city would do well to recall that the man for whom it is named, J. Erik Jonsson, was not just a mayor, but a pioneering technologist, the president of Texas Instruments. It is hard to imagine he would stand for a library that was anything but state of the art."
Issues with the building's roof and windows have already caused damage to and the loss of library materials on the seventh and eighth floors, according to the report. Additionally, many of the the building's key systems, such as electrical, plumbing and elevators, are beyond their expected useful life.
"The longer they go without upgrade and replacement, the more likely they are to fail," Jill Eyres, associate principal of Northern California-based Group 4 Architecture, Research + Planning Inc., one of the consultants hired for the library's strategic plan, said in the council committee meeting.
Ideas from library community members and staff for Central Library include:
• Making it inviting, light, airy and colorful, reflecting "Dallas' unique spirit and creativity"
• Being able to see and identify the library as a library from blocks away
• An outdoor plaza that is an extension of the library experience
• Connecting the floors better and making it easier for guests to navigate on their own
• Lots of comfortable spaces for individual and group activities; more interactive and creative features and spaces; and balance between active and calm spaces.
"I will not tell you that renovation would be a small job," Eyres said. "But you are not alone."
Eyres pointed to other ongoing and recent central library projects in major U.S. cities that she said are seeing good results, specifically Boston, Austin, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C.
"Just last week, a study was published showing that Washington D.C.'s recent reinvestment in its main library is a boost for the downtown economy," Eyres said. "Visitors come from throughout the city to visit the library and then they stay downtown to shop, eat out [and] attend sporting events and cultural events."
During the council committee meeting, District 11 Council Member Jaynie Schultz said the library could use the massive convention center redevelopment, set to reshape the surrounding area, as a way to get the repairs and improvements funded.
"I do think it's a huge opportunity to leverage because it will be one of the primary visitor spots, this part of town, for everyone who comes into Dallas," Schultz said.
In addition to the Central Library renovations, library officials want to grow the branch network by about 165,000 square feet in order to keep up with projected population growth — not by adding new branches but instead by replacing or expanding smaller, older branches.
The library system recommends renovations to eight branches, plus the central library, and expansion or replacement of 11 branches. Nine branches would be maintained.
The facilities plan does not set funds aside for the recommended projects, as feasibility studies and design services are beyond its scope. The library will have to do additional analysis to determine the size, scope and timing of the recommended projects, at which point it can develop capital budgets.
The projects would be funded by bonds. Proposed projects for the 2024 city bond program include $43.5 million for library facilities, but not the central library.
Library consultants wrote that the city needs to significantly increase bond funding for libraries in future bond programs to bring these projects to fruition in the next two decades. Partnerships between Dallas Public Library and other city departments, other public agencies or private companies, as well as mixed-use or adaptive reuse projects, could help the library system take full advantage of bond money.
Since robust funding in the 2003 and 2006 bond packages, allocations for library capital projects have totaled less than $16 million, according to the report. That has left some projects from the 2000 library master plan unfinished, including replacing the North Oak Cliff and Park Forest branches as well as the renovation of the Preston Royal branch.
In early 2023, the City of Dallas started developing a Dallas Public Library comprehensive plan, including the facilities plan as well as a three- to five-year strategic plan, seeking input from thousands of people throughout Dallas.
Library officials say it's not a static roadmap, but is instead intended to help the library adapt to evolving circumstances and new opportunities in the coming years.
In addition to Group 4 Architecture, the strategic planning team also includes Dallas nonprofit Building Community Workshop, library technology consultant Carson Block of Colorado and Los Angeles-based library consultant Susan Kent.