Benning / Dorothy I. Height Neighborhood Library

The Benning / Dorothy I. Height Neighborhood Library is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library system, located in Benning, a neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C.

Benning / Dorothy I. Height Neighborhood Library
38.894099°N 76.947765°W / 38.894099; -76.947765
Location	3935 Benning Road NE, Washington, D.C. 20019, United States
Type	Public library
Established	1962; reopened 2010
Branch of	District of Columbia Public Library
Other information
Website

History

The interior of the new Benning / Dorothy I. Height Neighborhood Library, pictured in 2011.

The site at 3935 Benning Road NE was previously home to a library designed by Clark T. Harmon as part of a D.C. Public Works Program initiative, a one-story brick-and-concrete building that opened in 1962. The library had played an important role in the surrounding community since its inception.^[1]

In 2004, the original library was closed to make way for a new structure on the same site, as part of a citywide push to revamp D.C.'s public libraries. An interim library served the Benning community while construction was underway.^[2][3][4][5]

The new Benning / Dorothy I. Height branch of the DCPL opened on April 5, 2010.^[1][6][7]

It was named in honor of Dorothy Height, an influential civil rights and women's rights activist.^[7]

The new library was designed by the architecture firm Davis Brody Bond Aedas. Construction of the two-story, 22,000-square-foot building cost $12 million.^[1][8][9]

The library features public art from artists based in D.C.'s Ward 7.^[1][10]

See also

• District of Columbia Public Library
• Benning (Washington, D.C.)