Completed in 1927, the Free Library of Philadelphia Central Library stands as a symbol of the importance of the library in the fabric of civic life. This building served its community for 84 years, but had not been substantially altered since opening. As a result, the continued growth of collections and expansion of services has resulted in highly compromised public and staff spaces.
In June of 2011 the Free Library resolved to create a new Functional Programming document for the Central Library, and June Garcia LLC, teamed with Bostwick Design Partnership was selected to create the new program. The goals of this new program were to:
- Inform the building design process with current best practices
- Quantify collection and functional needs of each component in a reconfigured future library
- Document how these changes and new ideas are to be applied to the existing building and proposed addition in a clear and intuitive way.
The programming process included department by department work sessions to fully understand the depth of collection, community benefits and space needs for each building component. The final programming document documented existing and proposed space needs, a detailed description for how each department should function, and imagery from best practice examples.
