The new Maynard Public Library was inserted into the shell of the formerly abandoned Roosevelt School, a locally significant and historic three story New England brick school. The 24,000 sf building serves as a spacious new home for the growing library collection. Due to the severe weather damage and water infiltration of the abandoned school, only the historic facades and entrances were preserved in the renovation. Lerner | Ladds + Bartels developed a sculptural curtain wall design on each end to allow for light to penetrate through the fire stairs and into the collection areas. The interior was reconstructed with a completely new concrete and steel structure and organized around a central opening and skylight that is occupied on the lower level by a monumental staircase. Each floor is also enhanced with the adaptation of a loggia-like central spine that beckons back to the arched ceiling of the original school’s hallway. The site received a new parking lot and an accessible entrance, as well as a reading garden and seating area.