Join a Live Q&A as our Next Generation Libraries Move Forward


Written by Justyn Rampa, Customer Experience Manager, Downtown Main Library 

Please join me online for a live question-and-answer session regarding the Library's Facility Master Plan, which we published in January of this year. The Q&A session is 6:30–7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10. Register for the virtual event.

Before the session, we hope you view the recorded presentation for your planning zone. Access the recorded presentations on our YouTube channel.  

The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library spent 2019 working on its Facility Master Plan (FMP). We held community listening sessions at all library locations and heard from over 3,000 residents and library users. I’m sure I’ve talked to many of you either at those events, on the phone, or through email messages.   

About the Facility Master Plan  

The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library spent 2019 working on our FMP. We held community listening sessions at all library locations and heard from more than 3,000 residents and library users. I’m sure I’ve talked to many of you either at those events, on the phone, or through email messages.   

Our Facility Master Plan serves as a roadmap to our Building the Next Generation Library initiative, providing the Library with recommendations and a strategic direction for upgrading our facilities over the next 10 years. We’ve never undertaken such a comprehensive plan as this, which enables us to make informed decisions and maximize the dollars given to us by the taxpayers. Although the pandemic continues to impact our daily lives, the Library is realizing the long-term vision we heard from you during the community engagement last year. We look forward to building the Next Generation Library together and sharing the vision of the Facility Master Plan with you.  

Watch a Community Presentation on YouTube

Prior to the pandemic, we envisioned holding community forums in person across the county. In fact, we did manage to hold two in-person community forums in Feb. and March. Instead of hosting large gatherings, we now plan to share the information via recorded virtual presentations on our YouTube channel: one for each of the five planning zones outlined in the FMP, which include the Central Planning Zone, the Central North Planning Zone, the North East Planning Zone, the South East Planning Zone, and the West Planning Zone.

These five planning zones were created as part of the FMP for orientation and organizational purposes. By observing how each of our customers used our 41 locations, we found travel patterns that helped create the five planning zones. All 40 branches and the Downtown Main Library are to receive improvements over the next 10 years. Having the planning zones makes it a little easier to talk through all of those improvements.  

Building the Next Generation Library  

Currently, we are working on branch FMP projects. Most immediately Price Hill and Walnut Hills, which we are renovating so that they’re fully accessible and expanding with new additionsThe Deer Park project also is in progress and general information on that project is on our Next Generation Library page under Current Projects—Design Projects. While each of these branch projects is at different stages of progress and have buildings with different needs, one thing they have in common is that they represent our first Next Generation Libraries.  

These Next Generation Libraries are places where every community member can learn without limits in a welcoming, inclusive environment. They are going to offer what so many in our community have always loved about our libraries and services, plus much more. We used the feedback the community shared with us in 2019 to inform how we re-envisioned these branches. For example, we heard repeatedly that community members wanted us to activate our outdoor spaces, provide more meeting/study spaces, provide additional parking, and more.

Stay up to date on our Facility Master Plan projects on our Next Generation Library website, opens a new window, and I hope to see you online for the live Q & A on Dec. 10!