Officials cut ribbon at renovated Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library

Hundreds of local residents, officials, activists and onlookers crammed into the lobby and second-floor overhang of the renovated Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library on Saturday, awaiting a ribbon-cutting nearly two years in the making.

The ultra-modern facility — funded at nearly $20 million, and designed and built by Perkins Eastman and Gilbane — occupies a sprawling 27,000 square feet at the northwest corner of Connecticut Avenue and Macomb Street NW. Yet it somehow blends seamlessly into its surroundings.

For residents of the historic Northwest neighborhood, first impressions were largely “oohs” and “ahhs.”

“We know how much our neighborhoods change, our culture changes, the way that people interact with one another changes as well,” Mayor Muriel Bowser told the crowd at the ribbon-cutting. “Our government facilities play a part in bringing people together, getting them away from their electronics, getting them away from people cloistered in their own homes, having the opportunity to meet one another and engage in very meaningful ways. And a library is so emblematic of how we, as a city, can make that type of investment in one another.”

Bowser was second in a long list of city and neighborhood officials to speak at the reopening of the library. Each spoke about how much libraries mean to them.

This sentiment was echoed by the crowd packed in for the occasion.

“I know that this library is the one that has the most visitors per year [of] any library in the city,” said David Grosso, at-large DC Council member and Education Committee chair. “I think I heard from every single one of them during this process.”

Grosso wasn’t the only speaker who remarked upon the community’s involvement in the planning of the new library. Flexible meeting space — including a first-floor area that can fit 205 people, or can be split in half — is one result of the input. The library also features two second-floor balconies with seating and an outdoor reading garden.

“We want something big and bold, but we also want something cozy,” said Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director of D.C. Public Library. “We want something iconic and grand, but something deeply respectful of the historic architecture of the neighborhood.”

The Cleveland Park Library is one of several libraries in the District to undergo recent renovation.

“In the last decade this is the 18th branch to be redone,” said Gregory McCarthy, president of the DC Board of Library Trustees. “This library system has gone from almost worst to first in just one decade.”

Four DC branch library renovations are currently in-progress: Lamond-Riggs in Ward 5, Southeast and Southwest in Ward 6, and Capitol View in Ward 7.

“And in 2020, we open the world-class Martin Luther King downtown library,” McCarthy said at the Cleveland Park Library reopening.

DC Council member Mary M. Cheh of Ward 3 praised the library’s design and construction, especially its pending LEED Gold certification.

“In the District, the largest energy users are buildings, and so whenever we can deliver a building that’s environmentally progressive and sustainable, we have a win, not just for what we’ve done, but for what the future holds,” Cheh said.

Following Bowser’s cutting of the ribbon, the massive crowd dispersed, revealing just how many people the full space can accommodate even on its busiest days.

Reopening-day activities included musical and dance performances, a couple dressed as President Grover Cleveland and first lady Frances Folsom Cleveland, and Washington Nationals mascot Screech. The morning weather was a comfortable 80 degrees with a breeze, and, just outside, a slew of local candidates and activists were waiting to hand out fliers to anyone with an open hand.

The children’s section, on the first floor, is teeming with new books, bright colors and play areas for the library’s smallest readers. Bowser said she expects her own adopted daughter to make use of the area some day.

“All the children have an opportunity to interact with the library in ways that we didn’t when I was a little girl. Everyone had to be super quiet. And never touch anything,” Bowser said to a chuckling audience. “But our libraries now are so different. And I am introducing baby Miranda, who is new in my life, to this library as well.”

The library has two main floors and a functional basement, where snacks and coffee were served for Saturday’s festivities. On the second floor, there are quiet study rooms, open seating and outdoor areas with beautiful views of the neighborhood.

The library opens at 9:30 a.m. daily, except for Sundays, when it boasts afternoon hours from 1 to 5 p.m. The library closes at 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.