Officials from the Anne Arundel County Public Library (AACPL) opened the new Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library with a virtual ribbon cutting featuring Governor Larry Hogan, Speaker of the House of Delegates Adrienne Jones and County Executive Steuart Pittman. The $24 million facility is the first newly constructed library in the county in more than 16 years.
“We are proud to open this state-of-the-art library for our customers. This new building represents a renissance in our county’s public libraries,” said AACPL CEO Skip Auld.
The new 32,500 square foot building boasts 85,000 books and materials, a vending café, makerspace, tech zone and teen area, expanded children’s area and outdoor play space, six collaboration spaces, two meeting rooms and more. Environmentally-friendly features of the building include geothermal heating and cooling, five electric vehicle charging stations and 222 individually programmed electro-chromic windows. The new building is certified “Gold” under the U.S. Green Building Council’s process for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). It isthe first county building to achieve LEED Gold certification.
“The Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library will serve the needs of all in our community for decades to come. Speaker Busch would surely be proud of this building, which bears his name, as an example of how government can be a leader in sustainable design and construction,” said County Executive Steuart Pittman.
Additional unique features of the building include a digitized nautical map of the Chesapeake Bay serving as flooring in the lobby and café, community living roomand personalized walkway made up of 1,569 individualized bricks featuring messages of hope, rememberance and humor. Wall hangings in the new library display a copy of George Washington’s resignation speech when he resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continential Army and the original poem created by Vincent Godfrey Burns, former Poet Laureate of Maryland, for the opening of the former Annapolis Libray in 1965.
The branch, like all libraries is open from 10 am to 7 pm Monday – Thursday and 10 am to 5 pm Friday and Saturday. It will be open on Sundays from 1-5 pm from September – May. Starting July 27, contactless curbside pickup is also available at the location Monday-Thursday from 3-6 pm and Friday and Saturday from 10 am to noon.
The building is named in honor of late House of Delegates’ Speaker Michael E. Busch, a long-time Annapolis resident. Speaker Busch was a staunch advocate for education, affordable health care and the environment. During his tenure as Speaker, public libraries saw a renaissance with the state providing more than $1 billion in capital and operating funds.
Construction on the building started in August 2018. The design team on the project included: WGM Architecture + Interiors, Margaret Sullivan Studio and Louis Cherry Architecture.
