Driving the
Library Forward

Columbus Metropolitan Library, Driving Park Branch

The first in a series of branch replacements and renovations, the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s new Driving Park Branch reimagines what it means to be a library in the Information Age.

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Replacing a small, outdated and nearly windowless — yet much-used — facility a few blocks away, the new branch provides an underserved community with a catalyst for positive change.

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Like many libraries in Columbus and elsewhere, Driving Park finds itself at a point of transition.

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Once places of knowledge dissemination and quiet introspection, libraries now are becoming places to meet, socialize, study, hang out and plug in.

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Beyond books and magazines, the Columbus Metropolitan Library provides public meeting rooms, technology and a range of services for neighborhood youth.

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Social, interactive functions are located along the perimeter, where they benefit from natural light and engagement with the street.

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Traditional modes of library patronage — like focused, quiet reading — are located at the center of the building for privacy.

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Because Driving Park was historically known for racing, a “racetrack” organizes the different functions and displays for books and other media.

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Not merely a passive provider of information, the Driving Park Branch is an active participant in connecting community.

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With a transparent street frontage revealing the activity within, the building is a beacon for the neighborhood and the future of libraries in the 21st century.

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The new Driving Park Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library addresses what it means to be a library in the Information Age, while providing an underserved neighborhood with a catalyst for community and positive change.

Libraries are in transition: once a point of knowledge dissemination and quiet introspection, they are becoming places to meet, socialize, study, hang out and plug in. The new Driving Park Branch turns the library inside-out, placing traditional modes of library patronage — like focused reading — at the center of the building, while social, interactive functions are located along the perimeter, where they benefit from natural light and engagement with the street.

Because Driving Park was historically known for racing, the project incorporates a “racetrack” concept to organize the different functions, shape the building envelope, and display books and other media. With a transparent street frontage, public meeting rooms, services for neighborhood youth and technology, the Driving Park Branch is not merely a passive provider of information, but also an active participant in connecting community.

The building’s impact is reflected in the numbers: in the first year after opening in 2014, customer visits rose by 60 percent, homework assistance more than doubled, community meetings increased fourfold, and books were checked out more than twice as often as before.