Completed in 1888, Rice Public Library is a landmark in the community, offering a welcoming presence and a remarkable range of public programming. The Library was previously split between two buildings on either side of Wentworth Street in downtown Kittery, the original Rice building and the Taylor building annex that expanded the collection in 1988.

The original Rice building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and serves as an architecturally distinguishing feature of Kittery Foreside. In November 2018, the town of Kittery decided to restore and expand the original Rice building, consolidating the collection into one space and making the historic building fully accessible. SA teamed with Lassel Architects to develop solutions to add 10,400 SF to the historic structure to provide staff and patrons a flexible and open working and learning environment that suits the needs of today and the town’s future.

A large sub-dividable community room and maker space on the first floor expands on the current programming of the library and will allow for greater access for after-hours films, lectures and events. The main entry floor of the library serves most of the circulation requirements and offers a warm and welcoming reading room with large windows looking to downtown Kittery. The second floor connects directly to the historic Almyra Roberts Reading Room in the original building and is home to the Children’s and Young Adult collections and programming.

We look forward to watching the library grow in their newly expanded location.

Client  |  Rice Public Library

Location  |  Kittery, Maine