“Every town, no matter how small, needs a good library.“
Growing up, or raising your own children, you may have felt like you ‘lived at the library’. Well now, you can.
From educational programs and free lunches to 3D Printing and Pickleball, libraries are transforming communities in novel ways.
Always a safe place of learning for everyone in the community, libraries are now innovating in ways beyond the imagination. Including Affordable Housing.
In New York City they are celebrating the opening of a new development combining a public library with affordable housing. A “14-story rental with 174 deeply affordable apartments” atop a two-level New York Public Library branch.
The city received 80,000+ applications to enter a lottery to secure a unit. Only open to those earning 30, 40, 50, and 60 percent of the area median income.
“You pair affordable housing with a public asset like a library. It’s pretty symbolic.” In Boston, the “housing-above-libraries” idea has been underway since 2018 with multiple planned builds in progress.
Chicago may have started the trend with multiple communities built since 2017. Vital community gathering places, Public Library systems are critical to our communities. And here in Cincinnati, we have one of the best.
Be sure to check out the newly renovated Downtown branch. The Downtown Main Library’s South Building officially reopened last weekend after closing for renovations in 2021.
Innovative planning and design by local governments to create more affordable housing is necessary and welcomed. As we all know, the leading cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing.
