The Walpole Public Library, Walpole

We’ve visited the Walpole Public Library several times and have found it to be one of the best around for getting work done. This is no accident. The library’s leaders understand that people are increasingly turning to libraries as work spaces and planned accordingly. There are five fabulous study rooms, two super sweet conference rooms, and a print center on the first floor. All together, it makes for a great place to work.

The library was designed by LLB Architects and opened in 2012. It’s a fine example of the creativity seen in libraries built in the 21st century. Once people got their heads around how the Internet was impacting people’s relationship to information, it was almost like a switch was thrown and new design ideas began to flow. Big, bright open spaces, dedicated work areas, and comfortable places for people to meet and chat - all these things have seemingly become de rigueur for libraries built over the past 15 or 20 years and are a welcome development.

In addition to its study and meeting rooms, reading areas, and core collection, the library also features an outdoor reading garden and a community room, which sees heavy usage. In talking with staffers and folks around town, it sounds like they wish they’d used the garden space to create an even larger community/meeting room. This isn’t a dig on the garden, which really is lovely, but more a testament to the central role the library plays in Walpole.

 The Walpole Public Library is a really comfortable place to spend time, a productive place to get work done and a marvelous example of a town library designed to meet the evolving needs of its community.

The Walpole history/meeting room.

One of the large open reading areas.

The reading garden.