Barry-Lawrence Regional Library | Monett Branch

The Barry-Lawrence Regional Library District has been dreaming of a new Monett Branch Library for the community for over 20 years.  The Library District held fundraisers where members of the community have personally donated funds to make this dream a reality.  When the tax levy passed in 2019 and funds were allocated for this project, it was finally time to start putting pen to paper with a design concept.  The new ground up construction has resulted in the nearly 20,000 square-foot library facility in Monett that serves both Barry and Lawrence counties.  The facility is sectioned into several zones including dedicated children’s, teen’s, and adult’s areas.  There are several spaces for community gathering and collaboration, including an outdoor patio and a display kitchen for culinary instruction classes and other demonstrations to take place.  The most important feature to the owners was the children’s area where several unique design elements make up the central design, including a playful Reading House, bold treelike structures, and colorful seating and nooks for reading.  Library leaders and the design team prioritized placing seating and reading areas, instead of bookshelves, along exterior walls to take advantage of natural light in those areas.  Structural columns were turned into design elements and wrapped with countertop workspaces in an effort to turn otherwise unusable components into productive ones.  And finally, as is priority in most libraries, the design centers around easy supervision from the circulation desk.