LADUE, Mo. — St. Louis County Library patrons will finally be able to visit the new Clark Family Branch this summer after construction forced the library's headquarters to close in May 2022.
The $31.8 million Clark Family Branch, located at 1640 South Lindbergh Blvd., is the final part of the Your Library Renewed campaign, which began in 2014. It included rebuilding six new library branches and renovating 13 more.
The new, two-story St. Louis County Library headquarters is 74,000 square feet, making it the largest branch in the library district. The building includes an outdoor reading deck, a high-tech teen space, a fun space for kids and a small business center, according to a release from SLCL.
The opening will happen in two phases. Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon on June 1, the Post Event Space will open to the public at 1 p.m. for a ticketed event with Grammy-winning country singer Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish to discuss his new memoir, "Life's Too Short." 5 On Your Side's Rene Knott will lead the conversation.
Then, at 9 a.m. on July 9, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the branch will be held, and the entire library will open to the public immediately after, according to the release.
“The opening of the Clark Family Branch is a huge milestone for the St. Louis County Library District," St. Louis County Library Director & CEO Kristen Sorth said in a statement. "For the past 10 years, we have modernized and improved every branch in the Library District as part of the Your Library Renewed campaign, plus one additional branch. Our buildings truly reflect our Library System–they are welcoming, bright, dynamic, comfortable and fun."
The kid's space features a large playhouse, a fire engine and other interactive learning activities, and the teen space includes a creative lab with a 3-D printer, a recording studio, a green screen and a video game room.
The Emerson Genealogy Center, located on the branch's second floor, will include six interactive family search screens and a memory lab where people can record their family histories, according to the release. Plus, there's a room dedicated to digitizing old photos or converting VHS tapes to digital files.
The small business center will offer a variety of resources for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs, including a variety of seating with moveable walls to create collaborative spaces and a Zoom room with soundproof walls.
Other new features at the branch include 18 private study rooms, two fireplaces, a collection of art from the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, lush landscaping in the Post Plaza courtyard and a nearby walking trail.
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