Building Calgary's New Central Library

This article summarizes the key elements that led to the successful 2018 launch of the New Central Library in Calgary, Alberta. The perfect marriage of innovative architecture and innovative programing would not have been possible without an innovative approach to planning. It began with a clearly articulated vision, bold leadership, and the coming together of a collaborative project team. A human-centered design process dovetailed with a flawlessly executed operational readiness plan to produce an overall visitor experience that has set a new standard for libraries-named by Time magazine as one of the "Greatest Places 2019" (Davies, 2019).