Shaw (Watha T. Daniel) Neighborhood Library

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For the Shaw Library of the Anglo-Chinese School in Singapore, visit here.The Shaw Neighborhood Library or Watha T. Daniel Library is a building of award-winning design and one of the recently renovated libraries in the District of Columbia Public Library's system. Originally constructed in 1975 as a two-story structure in the Shaw neighborhood, the building was extensively renovated and reopened as a three-story structure in August 2010. With its distinctive translucent facade, glass enclosure, and light flooded interior, it has been hailed as a model for future libraries.HistoryThe Shaw library opened on September 27, 1975 at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and 7th Street NW with a ceremony led by Mayor Walter Washington. It reflected a design for the library, drawn up after the 1968 riots that devastated Shaw, which was so prison-like that the National Capital Planning Commission directed the District to open it up with larger windows, bigger setbacks, and arcades. The artictect, Eason Cross of the Alexandria VA-based firm Cross and Adreon, rejected the advice and persisted with the original Brutalist design that had only slits for windows. He continued with his plans, despite an attempt to get a federal injunction to stop, with the justification that the small, irregular size of the lot prohibited any redesign.