New Library

Your Norwalk Library is On the Move!

The City of Norwalk is entering into a purchasing agreement with Diligent Development on behalf of the Library in preparation for a much needed, larger library building. The location of the future library will be within the new Norwalk Central development near the corner of East 18th Street and Chatham Avenue. Please see press release for full details.

Press Release: Norwalk Purchasing Land for New Library
Norwalk Central Map
Space Needs Assessment
Building Program Document

Frequently Asked Questions

Click the question to see the answer. Check back for more questions and answers that may be added here in the future.

The primary reason for not using the North Avenue location is a building of the needed size doesn’t fit and there is no convenient place to put the parking necessary to support a larger library.  The current library is 11,500 square feet; the proposed library is 40,000 square feet. For perspective, we would be multiplying our current space by almost four times the size of the current building!

Our current parking lot holds 45 parking spaces. The new library will have 110 parking spaces, so we are more than doubling the parking space. With additional study rooms, numerous meeting rooms, and more community space, we anticipate this greater need for parking.

The current site is beautiful, but a lot of park space, mature trees, the gazebo, plantings, arboretum space, etc., would have to be removed or relocated in order to make room. 

Adding a second story would be very costly.  An elevator would be necessary for accessibility.  The existing electrical and HVAC systems would not handle this size addition and would all have to be replaced. The existing building would have to be brought up to current codes. The current library wasn’t designed to have a second story, so much of the structure would have to be re-built.  We would incur the expense of renting an off-site location for 1-3 years to conduct business while the library was being reconstructed.  The ground to the west of the current library is for drainage and frequently has standing water after rainstorms. The two other sites tested on the Brownie and City Park and library property did not work well compared to other sites.

This site was originally intended to be used for the library’s expansion.  The current building was intended to be used for 20 years; we are now in year 25.  The tremendous growth Norwalk has experienced has surpassed expectations, making necessary for more square footage, including room for future growth and parking.

The City of Norwalk will likely utilize the building and parking for a new City Hall.