By the time the renovation of six libraries in the Deschutes Public Library system is completed, several libraries will have dramatically reimagined discovery spaces for children to play and learn.

The library system spent six years planning what the renovation process would look like systemwide, and spoke with over 6,500 residents to learn what they wanted.

“Libraries are critical resources,” said Daniel Meyers, a designer with Plus and Greater Than, the team working on the children’s discovery spaces.

The focus is “on making places that are going to seem familiar, inspire pride of place, be evocative of the special, unique landscapes of Deschutes County, but also inspire wonder,” he said.

The discovery spaces will help young children learn to read by way of book and letter recognition.

A tunnel in the Redmond discovery space that children can crawl through will encourage hand-eye coordination and movement.

“They’ll be able to climb over and under and on top of these soft, upholstered shapes and spaces,” said Meyers. Spaces will also feature cubbies to climb into, balls to place in tubes, and unconventional places to sit.

The new Redmond library will also have a story time area in the discovery space, which will help children develop reading skills.

“We want to make sure we’re creating these unexpected places that give kids a lot to do, that are very literacy focused,” said Traci Sym, founding principal of Plus and Greater Than. She doesn’t just mean reading, she added, but also making sure that children understand the world around them.

The discovery spaces will have units with themes that will rotate among the libraries, so that each space will always have something new to display, as well as permanent units.

“We don’t want to disrupt everyone every time we change things out, so we have built-in components that are really connected to that particular branch,” said Sym. The designers want to foster curiosity in children by the surprise of the rotating units.

The spaces are also planned to have a few digital components, including a music production unit that will allow up to three children at one time.

The size of each library’s discovery space will determine what it can hold. The La Pine, Sisters and Sunriver libraries will only hold a few units, said Library Director Todd Dunkelberg, while the Redmond library will have three or four. Meyers added that differences between units will also depend on which age group frequents the library most.

Deschutes Public Library began its multiyear renovation program in January with the remodel of the La Pine and Sisters libraries. The rebuilding of the Redmond library will begin in March, and construction of the new Stevens Ranch location, in southeast Bend, will begin in February 2024, said Dunkelberg. Remodels of the Sunriver and Downtown Bend libraries will start in summer 2023 and winter 2025, respectively.

Plus and Greater Than will stay with the renovation until the last building opens, several years from now.

“Each branch has a unique look and feel,” said Sym. “We’re really trying to create a sense of place in these early learner spaces, not just because it feels good to be in places like that, but also because we want to give caregivers and kids a really easy way to walk into a library and know exactly where the places are that’s for them.”