The St. Louis County Library’s newest – and largest – branch officially opens to the public next month.
The Clark Family Branch in Ladue, built on the site of the library’s former headquarters on South Lindbergh Boulevard, will open Tuesday, July 9, marked with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. Patrons will then be allowed inside the building immediately following the festivities.
The new two-story branch has 74,000 square feet of space, more than doubling the public areas of the original building. The branch – named after Clayco founder and executive chair Bob Clark, who donated $4 million to the project – is the final piece of the decade-long capital-improvement campaign by the St. Louis County Library (SLCL).
In addition to housing the library’s expansive browsing collection of books, music, DVDs and magazines, highlights of the new building include two fireplaces and curated artwork on display, as well as 18 private study rooms, community meeting rooms, plenty of natural light and an outdoor reading deck that overlooks the Post Plaza courtyard.
SLCL director and CEO Kristen Sorth says much of the additions and improvements made to the new facility were gleaned from community input.
“We listened to what our patrons said, what our staff said – things like more comfortable seating and more study rooms. They also wanted enough spaces for teens as more of them are coming to the library after school, and doors on the children’s spaces because they can be loud,” Sorth explained. “Hands down, people wanted more study rooms, more tables and chairs, more lighting. They also wanted to be able to see outside. So, those are some of the things we incorporated.”
The rotating artwork featured throughout the first floor is from the collection of Ken and Nancy Kranzberg of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
“This building shows that there are places everywhere for art,” Sorth noted. “We will rotate the collection twice a year. This place is beautiful as it is, but to have 10 works of art on the wall, it’s going to be incredible.”
A high-tech creative lab with access to a 3-D printer, a recording studio, green screen and a video game room are among the features of the teen area. The children’s space on the second floor includes a row of playhouses along one wall, complete with a child-sized fire station, veterinary clinic and market, as well as other interactive learning activities and reading nooks.
Also on the upper level is the library’s genealogy and local history collection, which is considered among the largest in the country. Books, registers and other archival materials share space with six interactive Family Search screens, a Memory Lab for recording family histories and a room to digitize old photos and video.
The branch also has a Small Business Center providing a variety of resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs, including computers, meeting rooms and even a Zoom room with soundproof walls.
Adjoining the library area is the Post Event Space, the library’s event venue that opened in early June to a sold-out appearance by singer-songwriter Darius Rucker, who discussed his new autobiography, “Life’s Too Short.”
The Clark Family Branch is the final project of SLCL’s Your Library Renewed campaign, which began in 2014. Since then, six new SLCL branches have been built, and 13 have been completely renovated or expanded.
