On June 25, The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners officially approved new building plans for Southdale Library. As of Jan. 6, Southdale Library will be closed to the public to undergo demolition and construction, which is expected to take three years to complete. For those with materials on hold, there will be a temporary on-hold location, which will be announced when the official location is decided, and returns should be made to surrounding Hennepin County libraries. 

Southdale Library, originally built in 1973, was the second library built in Edina. Nowadays, it remains the fourth busiest branch within the Hennepin County Library with approximately 185,000 visitors in 2022. Talks of changing Southdale Library have been in the works since 2015 when the County Board proposed the relocation of the library to Southdale Mall, but this was put to a halt because of uncertainty during the years of COVID-19. In the following years, it was decided and announced that Southdale Library will be reconstructed on the current location.

Renovations for Southdale Library will include space for the Edina Art Center, a focus on a more environmentally-friendly building, more efficient utilization of the library space, an update on content within the library, and more public meeting rooms. “The number one thing I’m excited about is having an entrance at ground level… I’m really excited there’s going to be more green spaces,” Southdale Library Patron Experience Supervisor Stephanie Steinwedel said.  

Part of this modernization takes into account the changing times and how they impact what people use the library for. “As demand for conference rooms and other gathering places continues to increase, our usage of space must evolve in a way that is aware and responsive to the ever-changing needs of patrons, while remaining true to the core resources and essential services which our community have placed trust in the library to provide,” Southdale Librarian Ben Belknap said via email. 

This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Dec. 19, 2024