Adams Morgan U. Street Library

Outreach and engagement while developing a library usage study for the Adams Morgan/U Street/Dupont Circle area.

May 2024 - September 2024 - COMPLETED

Washington, DC

Based on a service gap identified in DC Public Library’s 2020 Facilities Master Plan, DC Public Library commissioned a library usage study for the Adams Morgan/U Street/Dupont Circle area. Through a library usage analysis, consideration of demographics and forecasting of the area, stakeholder mapping, and community and stakeholder outreach and engagement, Brick & Story sought to identify how DC Public Library could best support existing and future library users, particularly in light of the library usage impacts of COVID-19 and the re-opening of Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library.

Brick & Story led the community engagement efforts with support from Brailsford & Dunlavey. These efforts included a questionnaire, stakeholder interviews, pop-ups, and focus groups for immigrant and Spanish-speaking parents, youth, ANCs, and Spanish-speaking seniors. Additional outreach was conducted through community newsletters, flyering in public spaces, and through local businesses. This broad range of engagement efforts explored the experiences of both library users and non-users, to better understand barriers they face and how DC Public Library can address their needs in the future. The final report can be accessed here.