Sited in downtown Monrovia's Library Park, which successively housed two libraries, (one a long-lost original Carnegie Library), and a stand of trees that includes a pair of hundred-year old specimens, the new library was sited

to retain the park's rich, verdant character.  It also capitalizes on reading room views out to these oldest trees.

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The architecture adopts the classical attitudes and planning discipline of its predecessors, and of Monrovia's downtown buildings, albeit in a relaxed, contemporary fashion.

The architecture's low-profile horizontality is underscored by extended planters at the building's base, and continuous light-collecting clerestories under its cantilevered roof lines.

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Cork flooring at the central circulation hall and in the adult library achieves durability and acoustic performance.  

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The combination of landscape preservation, renewable building materials and thorough-going daylighting all contributed to the building's LEED Silver rating.