How this small library fills a big need for a Salt Lake City neighborhood

SALT LAKE CITY — Eight main or branch library locations are strategically scattered throughout Salt Lake City, but city leaders were well aware the map left a "big hole" in and around the Ballpark neighborhood.

In fact, District 5, including parts of the Central Ninth, East Liberty and Liberty Wells neighborhoods, was the only Salt Lake City Council district without a public library. That is no longer the case.

A group of Ballpark community leaders and residents applauded as city leaders cut a ribbon to open the Ballpark Library Lab, located at 1406 S. West Temple, before the group piled into the building to explore its offerings.

"This is really a dream come true," said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, adding that it's also a temporary space before a permanent solution is found.

Filling a community need

Salt Lake City's newest library is about five years in the making. After hearing from residents and spotting the gap, the mayor said she pushed Salt Lake City Public Library officials to "get something going" in the Ballpark neighborhood.

Some in the neighborhood have wanted a library for at least a decade, said Amy Hawkins, chairwoman of the Ballpark Community Council.

A future library branch somewhere in the neighborhood is included in the Ballpark Station Area Plan, which the city first released in 2021 to revitalize the neighborhood around Smith's Ballpark. The library system purchased a duplex and a neighboring home about a block south of the ballpark for $1.1 million as the plan was being finalized, setting up a potential site for a permanent library.

Then, the city's vision hit a snag. Its plans revolved around the Salt Lake Bees, but that changed when the team relocated to a new stadium in South Jordan.

Smith's Ballpark will undergo an adaptive reuse, Mendenhall announced earlier this year. However, it could still be years before a permanent library is constructed and ready to open, so the library system decided to turn the duplex into its first-ever library lab while the neighborhood's future is sorted out. About another $600,000 was invested in building repairs and retrofitting to prepare it for Friday's opening, while the other building is being rented out as affordable housing in coordination with the Salt Lake City Housing Authority.

A new kind of library

The Ballpark Library Lab isn't like the other city libraries. It has no regular operating hours, but it will be open during events hosted inside it. People can reserve the building from noon to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, as well as 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. That could change depending on how the lab is used, said Salt Lake City Public Library CEO Noah Baskett.

"This is an experiment in bringing library services that are grounded in community engagement and feedback," he said.

Some events and classes are already planned, including children's reading events, language learning courses and after-school activities, said Xris Macias, the lab's manager. It could also host community events not planned by library staff, while an outside patio will also offer WiFi to patrons even when the building is closed.

While some books and movies are available inside, it'll eventually become the city's first "24/7 library" where patrons can pick up items they have placed on hold from the library's vast collection at any time. A locker where people can pick up these items will be installed once it arrives, which is yet to be determined at this point, but a book return bin has already been installed.

"Unfortunately, with some shipping concerns, it's probably at least a couple of months out," Macias told KSL.com. "In the meantime, we'll be having holds within (the building) and book drops already available."

To top it off, library officials commissioned Caro Nilsson, a local artist, to wrap the building with a bee-themed mural, which has a double meaning. It gives bees a new Ballpark home following the departure of the baseball team while also paying homage to the Salt Lake City Public Library's mascot. A few baseball themes can be found inside the building, as well, as a nod to the neighborhood's history.

A step toward the future

Hawkins was among the new library's first patrons, quickly checking out a book to read on Friday.

"This is thrilling ... It's a really, really big deal," she said, explaining that it can be "challenging" at times for families in the neighborhood to access library resources in other parts of the city, especially for people without a car.

Mendenhall believes the new library has become more important since the Bees left. It will provide a community gathering spot after the neighborhood lost its biggest one. It's a place where kids can learn and play while families have access to resources without needing to purchase a ticket.

A new lab is part of that goal, but the city's Ballpark Next project could include a permanent library, moving it closer to the corner of 1300 South and West Temple, as compared to the land the library owns. It's still "too early in the design framework" to indicate if that's the case, the mayor added.

An update to the city's interim ballpark plans is expected in June. Residents are hopeful that short-term and long-term plans, like the lab, can help rejuvenate the area.

"I think there's no sprint to establishing the new use as long as we get a really good intermediate use (and) activation for the space," Hawkins said.

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