Get married in D.C. and honeymoon in Paris. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (901 G Street NW) in DowntownDC is now there for you on both counts.
The U.S. State Department on Nov. 17 opened a passport acceptance office at MLK Library to handle new passport applications. The office is open Tuesday through Thursday from 3-7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. The office doesn’t handle passport renewals.
While you’re at it, you can schedule your wedding at the library.
Today, people can get married on beaches, on mountaintops, even while skydiving. Now, you can stage your wedding at the MLK Library, which in November started offering rental space for weddings.
Libraries across the country have recently been incorporating new features into their range of services to transform libraries of yesteryear into modern community gathering centers. The D.C. Public Library is no exception. MLK library staff say they view this broadening scope of the modern library as the 3 C’s: collections, in the form of traditional books; connectivity, by offering space for people to gather; and creativity in the form of features such as the seven 3D printers that have been in place at MLK since 2012 and the library’s upcoming recording studio.
“That’s how the library attracts more people. More people are using the library, but we are trying to add other services because there are still some people who haven’t come to the library,” said library Media Relations Manager George Williams.
The D.C. Public Library was prohibited from renting or leasing space to outside entities until this summer. The D.C. Council in June passed a budget support act allowing the library to engage in revenue-generating activities such as hosting weddings and adding the passport office.
Currently, Williams says the library doesn’t have any other specific outside ventures in place, but it is open to other opportunities as they prepare for a $220-$225 million overhaul to the historic downtown library.
Williams says that in the meantime, the library continues to develop how they can connect with the community. “How can we activate the library in different ways?” Williams asked. “We want to offer more children’s programming. More families are living downtown. We want to make sure we offer programming that is interesting and that speaks to people using the library.”
In the meantime, MLK staff prepares for the renovation, designed to repair aging infrastructure, modernize the library and overall make it a world-class central library for the city. Current design proposals include an improved digital commons, a large children’s library area, a ground floor cafe with outdoor seating, performance space and a rooftop garden.
To learn more about the redesign of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, visit: http://dclibrary.org/mlkfuture
For more information on the D.C. Public Library Passport Acceptance Office, visit: https://dclibrary.org/passports