page_title: Nokomis Library
section_title: Renovation
hierarchical_section_title: Nokomis Library / Renovation
caption_attribution_description: English: The front entrance along 51st Street of Nokomis Library in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
context_page_description: Nokomis Library, formerly Nokomis Community Library, is a branch library serving the Nokomis East area of Minneapolis, Minnesota. One of 41 libraries in the Hennepin County Library system, Nokomis was designed by Buetow and Associates, Inc and opened in 1968 as a replacement for the nearby Longfellow Community Library. After being deemed crowded and outdated in 1999, the library underwent a renovation beginning in 2009 that saw it gain a number of environmentally friendly features and an expansion of 4,300 square feet. The building reopened in 2011 and includes a restored Wind and Water Chime, a stabile that was part of the original library and that was refurbished and reinstalled by July 2013. The library contains over 35 computers, a public meeting room, and a Spanish-language collection of materials.
context_section_description: In 1999, the Minneapolis Library Board issued a report entitled Outlook Twenty Ten identifying the changing needs of each of the system's libraries. Deeming Nokomis crowded and outdated, the report proposed three options. Option A proposed combining Nokomis with the nearby Roosevelt Community Library in a 25,000-square-foot (2,323 m²) space and closing both Nokomis and Roosevelt. This would have allowed the library to operate out of a state-of-the-art building at an undecided location. Option B recommended moving Nokomis to a different site without moving Roosevelt. The new library there would have been 18,000 square feet (1,672 m²). Option C included capital improvements to Nokomis, such as replacing carpeting, signs, and the roof. A 2003 update to the report identified a project start date of 2007, with full closure in 2008 and a reopening in 2009.
  In 2007, the Minneapolis City Council appropriated a portion of its $1.35 billion 2008 budget for improvements to Nokomis and Northeast Community Library. $5.2 million of the $7 million project came from the city; Hennepin County put forward $1.8 million for environmental additions to the library and other features. The new building was designed by KKE Architects with significant input from a citizen advisory committee. Ebert, Inc. was hired as the general contractor. The old building's last day of operation was September 12, 2009, at which time it was reported in the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger that the renovated library was expected to reopen sometime in the fall of the next year. During the construction, patrons were encouraged to make use of nearby libraries including East Lake, Roosevelt, Washburn, and Southdale.
  The renovation included expanding the size of the library about 4,300 square feet (399 m²) to a total size of 17,340 square feet (1,611 m²). A new lighting system that automatically adjusts based on the levels of light within the building was installed, along with a geothermal heating apparatus. Other environmentally friendly interior features included carpeting constructed from recycled fibers and low-flow faucets. A stormwater management system and native planting were utilized on the building's exterior. The library once again incorporated materials from Mankato Kasota Stone, making the difference between the old and new exterior surfaces virtually indistinguishable. The teen section was significantly expanded and a new ground-floor meeting room was built. The children's section was also subject to improvements, gaining new nature-inspired design elements including bird light fixtures. Collections were updated and expanded as well, including the purchasing of new books, DVDs, and CDs.  The library finally reopened on April 30, 2011, after being closed for 19 months of renovation.
caption: The library post-renovation in 2018
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