Advocate: Texas Community and LPA Plan New Library

On Saturday, Nov. 8, neighbors gathered at Preston Royal Branch Library for a community meeting on what they would like to see once the library is renovated.

District 13 Council Member and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gay Donnell Willis addressed the group of around 30 neighbors, explaining the history of the branch. Over 40 years after it opened in 1964, the library was set to be rebuilt on a plot of land the City bought through the 2006 Bond Package on the corner of Forest Lane and Nuestra Drive. Funding for construction never came, however, and the City sold the land. Combined funds from the sale and the 2024 Bond Package total a little over $9 million that will be used to renovate the library.

At the meeting, Robert Van Buren — an architect with Dallas’ Office of Bond and Construction Management — announced that after a six-month-long procurement process, LPA Design Studios was selected to design the renovated library. The firm has offices across California and Texas, including a Dallas branch.

Though the project was originally planned to be completed around October/November 2027, the timeline has shifted. Van Buren said construction is now expected to begin in the winter of 2027 and will take approximately one year. He said he is hoping to have a rededication of the library in the spring of 2028.

Library Director for Dallas Public Library Manya Shorr reminded attendees that the library will have to be closed for the duration of construction due to the extent of the renovation. The extensive construction, however, does not mean the library will be unrecognizable.

“I am very aware that this library is the heart of the community and has been for many generations. Many of you came here yourself as a child, or brought your kids here, and maybe even are bringing your grandkids here,” she said. “And the goal here is to restore this library to its former glory, but keep it really at the heart of the community”

The remainder of the meeting was turned over to Sophia Razzaque, a managing director at LPA. She led attendees through an exercise designed to help LPA understand what the community was looking for in the library’s renovation.

Seven posters were hung on the wall featuring photos of different libraries and community spaces. The posters covered the following categories: Children, Meet, Outdoor, Enter, Stacks and Seating, and Art. Attendees were provided sheets of stickers to place on the different photos — green stickers for the ones they liked and red stickers for the ones they didn’t.