There’s a new branch on the block—the largest branch in the St. Louis County Library District, as a matter of fact.
The metro area’s newest library, titled the Clark Family Branch, spans 74,000 square feet and is nestled in the same location as the former St. Louis County Library Headquarters building in Ladue.
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“The entire building has a feeling of openness and delight,” Kristen Sorth, St. Louis County Library Director and CEO, says. “It is the opposite of the old, traditional library. What I love the most is the feeling that you get when you go inside, and you feel like you are in a space that you want to hang out. It feels as dynamic as the system we are and as the people that come inside are. Plus, you know, it has two fireplaces.”
The fireplaces are just the start of what this new center has to offer. Also on the first floor, visitors will find comfortable seating, a large browsing collection, and a collection of art from the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. Sorth hopes the top-of-the-line Emerson Genealogy Center will also be a big draw for metro area residents, with SLCL’s large genealogy and local history collection, interactive family search screens, a memory lab where people can record their family histories, and a room for digitizing old photos or converting VHS tapes to digital files.
On the second level, an immense, colorful, stroller-friendly children’s space houses a large playhouse, a fire engine, interactive learning activities such as light tables and a magnetic gear wall, educational games and activities, and numerous cozy reading nooks. “The branch is filled with something for everybody, but in particular for families, we have a really incredibly darling children’s space,” Sorth describes. “It has a play vet’s office and a grocery store and a fire engine. And then there’s a ton of other interactive learning activities and some touch screens, and then some built-in spaces where kids can curl up with books. It’s just really bright and happy.”
Older kids and teens will enjoy a high-tech creative lab that includes a 3D printer, recording studio, green screen wall, and video game room, as well as rooms for tutors and study groups. “We knew that it was important to focus on areas for kids and teens because we have a real focus on literacy and on creating a love of reading,” Sorth says. “Those spaces were a no-brainer that we need to have this dynamic space where when they went up the stairs, they could tell that that was their space just for them.”
To pair with its new branch, SLCL is launching a summer reading program this year that invites youth ages 0–17 to go on an adventure with a variety of activities themed around STEM, art, outdoors, St. Louis, and reading. The program will run from June 1–August 10, and additional information is available at stlsummeradventure.org. On top of the reading program, the branch will also be hosting comedy magic show McVicar the Trickster on July 11 and musical comedy performer Let’s Get Loud on July 25.
Beyond family-friendly amenities, the library also boasts a small business center with collaborative work spaces, a sound-proof Zoom room, and entrepreneurial resources. The 18 private study rooms are a feature that the community specifically requested, as they were a well-loved feature in the former headquarters building. “When we started the projects, we talked with the community about things they wanted,” Sorth explains. “As a library system and a community, we are fun and bright and forward-thinking, and we wanted our buildings to reflect that. For instance, we have had a really popular small business program for years, and we didn’t have a dedicated space in any of our buildings. We have free WiFi in our building, so lots of people come to the library and run their business out of the library. We thought we needed to have a place with all kinds of interesting seating and collaborative spaces so that people could meet and talk about their business.
“And then we’ve had an amazing genealogy department for many years, but we didn’t have enough space in the old building to have the collection in one space. It was scattered throughout the building, a lot of it was behind the scenes, and the patrons couldn’t access it without assistance. So now, all the collection will be in one place, which is fantastic.”
With warm, comfy interiors, the Clark Family Branch is destined to be a cold-weather refuge, but the space’s architects also designed inviting spaces for spring and summer, including an outdoor reading deck and the Post Plaza courtyard, which rests nearby a walking trail. The branch’s 800-seat auditorium, coined the Post Event Space, will welcome Grammy-winning musician and author Darius Rucker on June 1 for a ticketed event, but a ribbon-cutting will officially open the branch to the public on July 9. (Read more about the schedule of events here.)
Other events held in the Post Event space this summer will include historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, thriller writer Riley Sager, novelist Gabrielle Zevin, and popular YA author Tomi Adeyemi. The Post Event Space will also host a performance by the St. Louis Symphony on June 24, as well as a gaming tournament with the BGG Foundation July 13, the Teen Book Festival, and Summer Reading Club events for kids.
The Clark Family Branch doesn’t require a library card for access to the building or its resources, and Sorth explains the St. Louis County Library system offers a reciprocal borrowing with the St. Louis City, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Franklin County, and Washington County systems for checking out books.
The Clark Family Branch is part of the Your Library Renewed campaign that began in 2014. Since its start, the campaign has completed six new library builds, 13 renovations and expansions, and The Lynn Beckwith Jr. Administrative Building. The Clark Family Branch is the final chapter of this project, and Sorth says it’s quite the grand finale.
“It has something for everyone, from a computer lab to do your personal genealogy to a place to bring your kids to play to a studio to record a track to resources to start a small business,” she gushes. “It really is a kind of a one-stop destination for so much of what people want in their community. We want people to come in and rediscover the public library. We want to welcome new people to the space who maybe haven’t visited a library in a really long time and are ready to be completely surprised by what it has to offer them.”
