photo by: Shawn Valverde

File photo of the Lawrence Public Library on Friday, July 26, 2024.

A “community living room,” new spaces for children and a greater presence outside of downtown are just some of the directions consultants now say the Lawrence Public Library could go in the future.

These were some of the things that representatives of Margaret Sullivan Studio discussed on Monday with the library’s Board of Trustees, and they could be part of a draft master plan for the library as early as next month.

The consultants were there on Monday to talk about the plan and the public feedback that will be shaping it. They’d collected input from a survey about the library’s future and a series of town hall events, and Margaret Sullivan, principal of the firm, said the survey clearly showed the public’s appreciation for the library. It got more than 3,200 results, which was something cities “triple the size of Lawrence” don’t always see, she said.

The survey, as the Journal-World reported, asked about amenities that residents would like to see in the library and in the Lawrence community more broadly. Library director Brad Allen said the ideas discussed in it ranged from small to ambitious in scope, and that the intent was to give the community “different ways to dream.”

“We hope it gives people the ideas about what the future could be,” Allen said. “There are many different ways to get there.”

The plan was originally called a “facilities master plan” but Sullivan now thinks the term “community vision plan” fits it better. Based on the public feedback, the consultants see three main areas to focus on: improving the main building, making downtown more vibrant and expanding the library’s presence into other parts of the city.

photo by: Screenshot

A slide from a presentation from Margaret Sullivan Studio about the Lawrence Public Library’s master plan update. It details how the community sees the role of the library.

Sullivan said Lawrence sees the library as a center for culture, education and social and community life. That suggests some “placemaking activation strategies” that will make the library even more of a community hub, she said.

Jenny Lau, another consultant with Margaret Sullivan Studio, gave an example of something the library could pursue at its location or elsewhere in town: an “immersive children’s museum experience.” The survey showed the public wanted new educational programs or amenities for kids, and the library could meet that demand either by creating a new children’s area at its downtown building or partnering with other organizations to provide programs for kids in neighborhoods.

Sullivan also noted the library’s plan to build an outdoor pavilion on its lawn as an example of strengthening its presence downtown.

Work is underway now to draft the new master plan, Allen said, and he hopes to present it to the Board of Trustees during its next meeting in May. Once the plan is complete, Sullivan said, it will serve as a “scaffold to guide the growth” of the library. Many of its ideas won’t “pop up tomorrow,” she said, but they will be a way to start the conversations in many parts of the community about what the library can be.

“We have to do this work together,” Sullivan said.

Allen said he is excited about the plan’s potential to unite many local organizations and partners, and he thinks it can be “truly transformative.”

“I’m excited about the possibilities and seeing a vision of where we could go,” Allen said.