When Evansville Vanderburgh Public Libraryโs McCollough location reopened June 5 after a 10-month, $4 million renovation, it represented the start of an ambitious 20-year process that seeks to transform all eight of EVPLโs locations.
Conversations started as early as 2019, indicating a system-wide renovation effort making structural improvements while adding new and expanded services as well as updated technology. The result was the 2022 Master Facilities Plan, which makes systemwide and location-specific recommendations to improve the quality of service and increase attendance at each location.
โIt had been many years since a master plan had been done,โ says Heather OโGrady, chief operating officer of EVPL, adding that after conversations with staff, โthe time was rightโ to update their facilities and get public input on changes or additions. โUpdating our library locations across the county gives us the chance to more equitably serve and provide inclusive spaces for all community members.โ
MKM architecture + design of Fort Wayne, Indiana, put together the plan for EVPL with help from Illinois-based engineering consultants IMEG, Carmel, Indiana-based library consulting firm ReThinking Libraries, and Evansville architecture firm Hafer. Goals are increased meeting room capacity, updated technology including computers and televisions, and improved ADA accessibility at all locations. Many locations โ ranging from 20 to more than 100 years old โ also require updates to HVAC and lighting.
EVPL officials say library users will benefit from those changes, and East Side workers already are noticing positive results and feedback from the improvements to McCollough. Claire Winternheimer, McColloughโs location manager, describes one longtime patron shedding happy tears after seeing the changes, saying, โThis is beautiful. I grew up coming here in the 1970s, and itโs very moving.โ
Visitors even wondered if renovations enlarged McCollough. Despite appearances, the interior at 5115 Washington Ave. was the same size as before โ it only seemed larger because of the rearranged space and larger windows.
โIt looks night-and-day different,โ says Winternheimer. โItโs a completely new color scheme, and much of the layout changed, so โฆ a lot different from what people had seen before.โ
Evansville general contractor Danco Construction brought those planned transformations to fruition at the 59-year-old McCollough. During construction, the library made its temporary home at the adjacent Washington Square Mall, which hosted programming and about half of the material collection from Aug. 1, 2023, through May 18.
McCollough now boasts a revamped floor plan, new furniture, and a refreshed color scheme and look. Some of the biggest changes include a new colorful childrenโs area with in-wall octagon seating, a new large meeting room and four small meeting rooms with updated technology, and a digital mural called โBookshelfโ by Spence Farmer, an artist and instructional designer at the University of Southern Indiana.
โBefore we were in our temporary location, we only had one small group room, and it was in high demand. So, we knew we needed to expand on that,โ Winternheimer says. โA lot of care went into the McCollough renovations.โ
Patrons are responding: Within the first two weeks of McColloughโs reopening, the library received 50 bookings for its new small meeting rooms.
The goal is to โequitably provide all services at all locations,โ OโGrady says. However, the scale of services provided by each location will depend on the size of each branch. Branches are defined as regional and neighborhood locations, with EVPL Central at 200 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. having its own designation.
โAs we renovate spaces, it is our aim โฆ to provide the same types of spaces and experiences at all locations,โ OโGrady says. โThe communities served by library renovations will experience greater satisfaction in their library experiences and will have a more robust library visit that meets their needs.โ
The next step in EVPLโs plan is its North Park location at 960 Koehler Drive, with Danco again overseeing renovations. Changes include a revised floor plan, a new circulation desk, an additional entrance, small group meeting rooms similar to McCollough, updated flooring, and the library will be repainted. Unlike McCollough, the North Park location will not be closed to the public for an extended period or relocated. Certain parts of the library will be closed to the public in stages while renovations are completed.
Whether a location includes phased closings or relocations will depend on how extensive the renovations are. EVPLโs board of directors and Evansville City Council have approved $6 million in bond issuances to fund the renovations to Central and North Park โ estimated to cost $1.6 million. Renovation of EVPL Oaklyn at 3001 Oaklyn Drive is in the early stages, pending funding.
โWe intend to leverage our existing debt service tax rate to help fund these projects. Thereby not raising taxes to fund future projects, but we do intend to continue progressing through the projects within the Facilities Master Plan,โ OโGrady explains.
As for future construction projects, per state statute, all project bids are public, and it is not known which companies will bid until their applications are submitted. Bids for Central and Oaklynโs branches have yet to be selected, according to OโGrady.
The publicโs response to the McCollough renovations has been positive, as is the feedback from the proposed changes to North Park.
โShared interests, thatโs what itโs about,โ Winternheimer says. โThis is where people come to connect on that level โ whether it is literature, movies, or various community efforts, the library is a place for that.โ
The community feedback โshows a shared value in libraries, the equality and equity that libraries create,โ OโGrady says. โWe donโt want the locations to just seem inviting, but to be inviting as well.โ
