Akron on Foot: The Library Hiding in Plain Sight

Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Akron Main Library, built in 1969, and learn about how the architectural practice of adaptive reuse was implemented in the 2004 expansion.

You know that the library building that you remember from your youth is still on South Main Street, right? 

Explore Akron history as current and former librarians will tell stories and offer a tour throughout the 1969 portion of the Main Library, now mostly used as staff work areas.

Alice Christie will join us from Progress Through Preservation, a local organization dedicated to maintaining the architectural and historical significance of Akron’s buildings and neighborhoods. Christie will speak on the benefits of the practice of adaptive reuse, where existing buildings are redesigned and expanded for the 21st century, and discuss other similar projects around Akron. 

Our Special Collections team will give a brief history of the library as a fixture of Downtown Akron over the past 150 years.

We’d also love to hear your stories and memories of visiting the Main Library! So come and learn, discuss, and explore one of the spaces that define Downtown Akron.

Akron on Foot is a new series from the Akron-Summit County Public Library, where we’ll take short walking tours to explore and enjoy Downtown Akron’s history through landmarks and special locations.

For questions or additional information, contact the Culture & AV Division at 330.643.9015 or cadiv@akronlibrary.org.

For additional reading, check out:

• "Cool is everywhere : new and adaptive design across America" by Michel Arnaud
• "The new downtown library : designing with communities" by Shannon Mattern
• Downtown tour by Progress Through Preservation

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