Holly McCullough was ebullient.

	Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Hannah Coffy, 5, of Brookline, works on a computer in her renovated Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Brookline branch. Click photo for larger image.

"There are people who haven't had cards for years that are coming in," said McCullough, who manages Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Brookline branch. "And they're all ages. My seniors love it and my teens are going crazy over the place."

And that was a few days before the library's grand opening earlier this month. The unannounced "soft opening" was drawing in passers-by on Brookline Boulevard, who had only to look inside those grand new windows to see that the library's nine-month renovation was complete.

"The whole idea was to make it more street-front," said Karen Loysen of Loysen + Associates, whose team transformed an anonymous building with few windows into a dynamic, contemporary space filled with natural light, right down to the basement.

To Carnegie Library director Herb Elish, the location of the Brookline library was ideal -- in the heart of the neighborhood's commercial strip and sandwiched between a bakery and a barbershop. But the building itself was a problem -- a 1 1/2-story 1950s box that was remodeled 13 years ago when it became a library, but, hemmed in by adjacent buildings, lacked windows on both sides.

	Lake Fong, Post-Gazette New exterior windows reflect the Brookline neighborhood and provide a portal into the renovated branch library building. Click photo for larger image.

In Loysen + Associates' $2.9 million renovation, the problem was ingeniously solved in several ways. The front of the building, which formerly held a mezzanine, has been opened up into a two-story space that sets the spirit soaring. The upstairs tanning salon, which for the library had been what Loysen called "more or less the first line of defense against the leaking roof," has been banished. In its place are clerestory windows that admit generous amounts of natural light.

The light, in turn, reflects off of the ceiling's two canted planes that dip down into the room, giving it more intimacy, as Loysen intended. It is, after all, meant to be a community living room, well stocked with magazines and periodicals that advertise themselves on display racks just inches from the sidewalk.

The middle of the library is illuminated by a rooftop skylight that also brings natural light into the basement children's room through a slot-like opening above the warm-toned "light wall" on the right side of the building.

	Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Nancy Gallagher and her 6-year-old daughter Brenna read together at the renovated Brookline library. Click photo for larger image.

Placing the rear staircase on the outside of the building allowed the architects to design its back wall as a glass one, with the sunlight filtered through an external grille that functions as a sort of giant mini-blind, minus the movement.

With open stacks in the centers of the first floor and basement, the naturally illuminated spaces at the perimeters are set aside for reading, study and computer areas for children, teens and adults.

The library's other green features include the use of low-emission adhesives, paints and sealants (reducing the amount of toxic gases released into the air) and the recycling of demolition materials. The project has applied for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Loysen, who founded her Point Breeze firm in 1996, worked with architects Sallyann Kluz, Jennifer McCarthy and Greg Weimerskirch on the project. In June, the firm (minus Weimerskirch) merged with Peter Kreuthmeier to form Loysen + Kreuthmeier. The general contractor was Rycon Construction. DesignGroup of Columbus, Ohio, helped to create the space allocation program.

	Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Warm natural light illuminates Ashley Santoro, 13, of Brookline, as she smiles at a classmate while studying after school in the Brookline library. Click photo for larger image.

The user's experience of the building also is enriched by the architects' careful attention to details large and small, from the zigzagging wall of the staircase that leads to the children's area to the clever signs designed by Landesberg Design Associates, some of which invite patrons to "ask a librarian."

As with the recently completed Homewood library renovation, "the librarians are no longer at the gate," Loysen said. They're off to the side, available but unobtrusive. If patrons prefer, they can use the self-service checkouts.

With its green principles and winning design, the building sets a new standard for contemporary branch libraries in the region and beyond.