Fargo Public Library Master Plan

JLG Architects provided a Master Plan to help Fargo Public Library better serve its growing community by understanding current facilities, space needs, and services through a long-range plan to right-size facilities, prioritize improvements, and ensure modern, flexible spaces across all locations.

Fargo Public Library (FPL) struggled to serve its rapidly growing community with aging facilities that could not meet current demand or adapt to future needs. Library leadership needed comprehensive data about facility condition and usage, a clear understanding of facility deficiencies across multiple locations, and a strategic roadmap to guide facility investments, service improvements, and modernized programming over the next decade. The project required conducting a thorough assessment to understand evolving community needs, fully involving users, staff, and community leaders to gather thoughtful feedback, evaluating layout, functionality, collection performance, and programming.

In 2023, JLG completed a comprehensive 100,000 SF study and pre-design for FPL’s long-range facilities planning. The master plan presented a strategic three-phased approach to be executed over ten years, outlining actionable steps, identifying challenges and building deficiencies, and defining new opportunities. The thorough process included extensive engagement with the community and benchmark library trends and regional case studies ensuring the plan reflected authentic community needs.