Brooklyn Public Library Highlawn Branch

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

The design of the renovation of this 7200 square foot branch library capitalizes on a change in the prevailing national attitude about public libraries. Freed by the computer from the mundane task of collecting fees, checking out, and processing books, librarians can now personally engage their readers. Seeing this as an opportunity to inject an animated aesthetic into this multicultural, working class community, our design reflects this new found energy. The new Highlawn establishes the library as an intellectual hub, floating somewhere between a research site, Starbucks, and a neighborhood drop-in center.