For the first time since it opened in 1970, Sacramento’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Library has been fully renovated, reopening as a modern, flexible, and welcoming hub for its community. Funded through the California State Library’s Building Forward program, Group 4’s design reimagines the branch from the inside out. Raising the ceiling draws daylight deep into the building and pairs with a lively new interior palette, while an expanded community room, a new makerspace, and additional collaborative spaces give students, families, and community groups room to gather and create. Quiet study zones and areas of respite offer visitors a place for focus and stillness.

The design preserves the building’s original brick walls and roof, honoring its history while enhancing the children’s and teen areas, upgrading staff spaces for efficiency and visibility, and improving accessibility throughout. New HVAC, updated restrooms, and seismic upgrades make the branch more durable and resilient for generations to come. Delivered with construction partner Swinerton, the project builds on the systemwide Facilities Vision that Group 4 developed with Sacramento Public Library in 2019, which continues to guide capital investment across the system.