Aubrey and Kennedy Smith wanted to be the first to take books out at the new Southeast Library. The two girls, now ten and eight respectively, were once regulars at the small neighborhood library, where they obtained their first library cards.
“It’s amazing. We’ve been waiting for a very long time,” said their mother, Nicole Smith. “And they were like, ‘we want to be the first person to check out a book.”
Aubrey, 10, can remember the former library. “It was small,” she said. “and I remember when the kids section was three shelves of books.” She really likes the expansive new children’s library, which occupies the largest and newest floor of the library, dug below what was the basement in the former library. “It’s so big and it’s so cool,” she said. She’s already read a book in one of the new pod-shaped cozy corners and nearly finished the new Southeast Library scavenger hunt.
The two were among the first to enter the Southeast Library (403 Seventh St. SE), a 104-year-old Carnegie landmark on Capitol Hill, when it officially reopened Sept. 10 after a major modernization that city leaders cast as both a preservation victory and a statement about the role of public space in the District.
“I can say without fear of exaggeration that it is absolutely spectacular,” Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) told the crowd prior to the ribbon-cutting, welcoming residents back into a building that first opened in October 1922. She reminded attendees that Andrew Carnegie funded public libraries across the country because “he believed that they were a melting pot of knowledge and that all communities should have access to free knowledge and opportunity.”
Southeast is one of four original Carnegie libraries in the District, along with the former central library at Mount Vernon Square, at Takoma and Mount Pleasant. All are all now renovated and reopened. Bowser noted that in the last 12 years, her administration has invested “more than a half billion dollars in D.C. public libraries,” and that out of the system’s 26 neighborhood branches, only three still need full renovation. Chevy Chase, Shepherd Park and Congress Heights are slated for work.
Councilmember Charles Allen (6), who represents Ward 6, framed the reopening as the culmination of more than a decade of advocacy and planning. Allen recalled early community sessions at the Hill Center where neighbors pressed library leaders about their vision. The original building cost $75,000 to build in 1922. The renovation cost DC taxpayers $41 million.
Allen emphasized how constrained the original Southeast branch had become. One of the busiest branches, it was also one of the smallest at 7,493 square feet, built on a 6,431 square foot site. The renovation nearly triples the usable space, taking it up to 17,547 square feet. This was largely done witha difficult expansion underneath the building and into public space that also preserved the historic footprint above ground. “The creativity that was involved in designing the space—it is nearly triple the amount of footprint and floor plans that we had,” Allen said, “and at the same time, restored the history and footprint of the Carnegie original building.”
Much of that expanded space is below grade, where designers have carved out a light-filled children’s area and flexible community rooms. A pillar of light flows from a skylight in the newly- renovated main floor, down through a middle floor for computer work and conferencing, all the way down to flood the sub basement that houses the children’s library in light.
Allen linked the project to a broader push to strengthen public spaces around Eastern Market, including a rebuilt plaza, a busy playground, and a new Rumsey Pool, arguing that such places “quite literally… knit our fabric and community together.”
Library officials used the ceremony to highlight the system’s evolving mission as “social infrastructure.” Richard Reyes-Gavilan, Executive Director of DC Public Library (DCPL), said the dramatically expanded building shows “how we can preserve our landmarks while at the same time adapting them for future use by doubling the size of the building below ground, adding generous amounts of natural light throughout, and installing a fully accessible entrance.” In an era dominated by screens and digital transactions, he said, “people still need environments where they can be together in real life, without barriers, without expectations, and without having to buy anything.”
“Libraries are truly among the last civic spaces in the United States where that is possible,” he said.
Reyes-Gavilan tied the redesign to DCPL’s new strategic plan, “In Real Life,” which centers on joy, belonging, and resilience. In Southeast’s new layout, he said, “joy comes through the openness of the architecture, the natural light, the colors, and the places designed for discovery,” while “belonging is embedded in the building’s accessibility… and resilience is built through the resources and programs that Julia and her team here will offer.”
Unlike her sister, eight-year-old Kennedy Smith cannot remember the Southeast Library before the renovation although she used to come to storytime on a regular basis. “She was really tiny when it closed,” her mother said. “The librarians used to see them after it closed and ask how they were doing.
But Kennedy likes what she saw on Thursday. “I think that it’s cool, and I like how there’s so many things to do and stuff to play with,” she said, “and it’s really fun.”
As the ribbon came down and residents streamed inside, officials framed the building as both a neighborhood anchor and a symbol of the District’s long-running bet on public libraries. “Southeast Library is yours; you will love it. Be kind to it,” Reyes-Gavilan told the crowd.
