To better serve the needs of the community, the Newburgh Free Library plans to renovate the interior and exterior of the existing library. Located at 124 Grand Street within the Newburgh Historic District, the Brutalist library occupies 42,000 square feet across three floors of the Board of Education building completed and opened in 1976. The interior remodeling is expected to encompass seating, programming and collection areas in the public spaces of the library as well as staff workspaces and offices. The collection size currently includes 150,000 physical items. There are 55 full time staff working at the facility.
The design should incorporate sustainable and green remodeling practices making use of existing features, shelving and furniture where feasible and desirable. Elements of the design will incorporate portability to allow for multi-use spaces to accommodate a variety of special uses, educational and cultural activities. The model will serve to support current and future concepts in service delivery; focus on the library as the hub of civic engagement and as a “third space” or “living room space” to provide an environment for reading, research, working and enrichment by individuals and groups, offering state of the art technology and inspiring life-long learning.