The Southeast Library near Eastern Market reopened Thursday, Sept. 10, after a multiyear renovation that doubled the size of the 104-year-old Carnegie building by digging underneath it.
Mayor Muriel Bowser cut the ribbon on the project, which her office valued at $41 million. DC Public Library's (DCPL) own website lists the project cost at $33 million. The mayor's office did not explain the difference.
The library at 403 7th St. SE is the second-oldest neighborhood branch in the DCPL system, built in 1922 with a $67,000 Carnegie Corporation grant and designed by architect Edward L. Tilton.
The renovation preserved the original neoclassical structure while adding a major underground expansion. The work was dramatic. Crews dug under and around the building during construction, and at one point the entire 1922 structure was essentially up on stilts, Washington Sun reporter Martin Austermuhle wrote on X.
The expanded library now has dedicated spaces for children and teens, a central skylight, public study and meeting rooms, and updated technology, according to the mayor's office. A new accessible entrance on South Carolina Avenue SE sits level with the sidewalk, complementing the preserved historic staircase on 7th Street, according to Quinn Evans Architects, which designed the project with builder Whiting-Turner Construction.
Quinn Evans said the building no longer uses fossil fuels and achieves a 42% reduction in embodied carbon compared to a standard new building of the same size.
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, whose district includes the library, called it "one of the heaviest used library branches in our entire city" before it closed for construction. He made the remark in a February 2025 video update and said the project would triple the library's footprint by expanding below ground and outward.
The design won approval from the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, the Historic Preservation Review Board and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, according to Quinn Evans.
The reopening caps a broader city push. Since 2015, all 26 DCPL branches have been funded for renovation, modernization or expansion, the mayor's office said.
Councilmember Matt Frumin of Ward 3, DCPL Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan and Board of Trustees Chair Shanel Anthony also attended the ceremony. A neighborhood block party with music, activities and giveaways was scheduled for 5 p.m. at the library.
When the Southeast Library first opened on Dec. 8, 1922, it held about 5,000 volumes and circulated an average of 550 books per day in its first two weeks.
