Officials from the Anne Arundel County Public Library opened the new Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library (AACPL) with a virtual ribbon cutting featuring Gov. Larry Hogan, Speaker of the House of Delegates Adrienne Jones and County Executive Steuart Pittman. The $24 million facility is the first newly constructed library in the county in more than 16 years.
The building is named in honor of late House of Delegates’ Speaker Michael E. Busch, a long-time Annapolis resident. Speaker Busch was a staunch advocate for education, affordable health care and the environment. During his tenure as Speaker, public libraries saw a renaissance with the state providing more than $1 billion in capital and operating funds.
The new 32,500-square-foot building boasts 85,000 books and materials, a vending café, makerspace, tech zone and teen area, expanded children’s area and outdoor play space, six collaboration spaces, two meeting rooms and more. Environmentally-friendly features of the building include geothermal heating and cooling, five electric vehicle charging stations and 222 individually programmed electro-chromic windows.
The building is certified “Gold” under the U.S. Green Building Council’s process for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). It is the first county building to achieve LEED Gold certification.
Construction on the building started in August 2018. The design team on the project included: WGM Architecture + Interiors, Margaret Sullivan Studio and Louis Cherry Architecture. The branch, like all libraries, is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday–Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It will be open on Sundays from 1-5 p.m. from September-May. Starting July 27, contactless curbside pickup is also available at the location Monday-Thursday from 3-6 pm and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.