CityState: C urrent l Edited by Jamie Coelho
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT: Architectural
renderings of the new front
entrance, the ground floor
Workshop education space,
the children’s room and the
Info Commons adult reading
space located on
the first floor.
Bold New Chapter
Providence Public Library’s renovation encourages visitors to “Think Again.” By Lou Papineau
“Think Again” is the theme of Providence Public Library’s
ambitious renovation of its landmark downtown buildings .
The rethinking of PPL demonstrates the vital role that libraries
fulfill in our society.
PPL’s executive director Jack Martin says in its earlier incarna-
tion the library was “basically a giant book depository, but we’ve
changed with the times and become more of a dynamic center
where people learn, create and achieve their goals.” Karisa Tashjian,
PPL’s director of education, adds that the heightened focus on
“high-engagement programs” — from youth initiatives to technol-
ogy courses to arts and humanities offerings — has a profound
impact: “We’re starting to reap the benefits of lives changed in our
community,” she says.
The $25 million project was powered by grants and donors
(PPL is a private organization and doesn’t receive city funds).
Major funders include the Champlin Foundation, RISCA, Rhode
Island Office of Library and Information Services and Rosalyn
Sinclair. The 83,000-square-foot remake of the 1953 Empire
Street building, which was last remodeled in the late ’80s, began
in September 2018; renovations on the 1900 edifice on Washington
Street were completed in 2013.
At the Empire Street entrance, an open-air, three-story atrium
and staircase (which connects to the 1900 building on the first
and third floors) showcases PPL’s new and rethought attrac-
tions. The ground floor boasts the Workshop, a collaborative
education space and one of four levels of open stacks (plus a
retail space with a to-be-announced partner). The first floor has
an Info Services desk; a large children’s room, including the Dis-
covery Library; and Info Commons, a new adult reading room
featuring a computer lab and comfortable seating for research and
study. The peer-designed Teen Loft is on the second floor. And
the third floor features a 255-seat auditorium, as well as the new
Special Collections suite including a reading room, exhibition
gallery, collection storage and seminar space for lectures, classes
and meetings.
The building’s infrastructure has also undergone state-of-the-art
upgrades, with new HVAC, electrical and fire protection systems.
Patrons will be vying for seats at the energy-efficient window
boxes, which offer expansive views in and out and “connect to the
city,” Martin says.
The “Think Again” motto also encourages people who mistakenly
regard libraries as obsolete in the age of Google to re-experience
PPL’s dynamic environment.
Jorge Luis Borges once said, “I have always imagined that para-
dise will be a kind of library.” The boldly reborn Providence Public
Library is it.
The PPL’s official ribbon cutting is on March 30 at 10 a.m.; the
2020 Exhibition and Program Series debuts on April 1 from 6–8
p.m.; and the grand reopening open house is on April 4 from 10
a.m.–5 p.m. 150 Empire St., Providence, 455-8000, provlib.org
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY
l MARCH 2020 19