DC Public Library Facilities Master Plan Update

July 2024 - September 2024 - COMPLETED

Washington, DC

Brick & Story supported the DC Public Library (DCPL) in data analysis, report writing, and report design to update its Facilities Master Plan. The 2020 Facilities Master Plan was written pre-COVID 19, and the changing context of Washington, DC required an update to the plan from a new lens. Brick & Story was tasked with writing a new Facilities Mast Plan that reflected changes in library usage, the city’s economic outlook and demographic forecasts, updates to recommendations from the original plan, budgetary considerations, and the built environment response needed for climate change.

DCPL provided Brick & Story with a myriad of data sets to analyze to understand changes in the socio-economic context of the city at large and specific changes in library usage. Brick & Story worked closely with the client to determine key questions to answer and draft messaging that responsibly responded to each of those questions with supporting data in crafting the plan update. We also worked with the client to determine the best way to inform on changes to the previous plan and possible changes that the library is exploring to stay relevant to the community in future years. Finally, Brick & Story designed a graphic template for the report and recommended charts, graphs, and maps that best helped tell the story of the content written in the Facilities Master Plan update.