Moving forward on its $300 million overhaul of the Mid-Manhattan Library and upgrade of its flagship Fifth Avenue building, the New York Public Library has undertaken a master planning process that is not expected to be concluded until April, library officials said in an interview.
“We’re figuring out how and what the space is going to be,” said Iris Weinshall, who became chief operating officer last month. She discussed the plans along with Mary Lee Kennedy, the new chief library officer. “Then we will start the next phase of the process,” she added.
That next phase will involve hiring an architect, Ms. Weinshall said – perhaps one for both aspects of the project, or one for each. The library will put out a “request for qualifications” and then a “request for proposals”; there will be no design competition.
The library has several other building projects underway, including an $18 million renovation of the Schomburg Center, due to start this spring, and the $21 million construction of its space in the former Donnell Library Center site on West 53rd Street.