Buchanan County Public Library Conceptual Landscape Redevelopment

Located in rural southwest Virginia in the county seat of Grundy, off of State Route 460 on the Levisa Fork River, is the Buchanan County Public Library, which serves the county’s population of 27,000. The library is not only a vital resource for books, periodicals, and audiovisual materials, but is a valuable historical archive and community center for the county. The library’s mission is to “meet the intellectual, practical, leisure, and other needs of the citizens of Buchanan County.” To that end, the library hosts guest speakers, technology workshops, numerous club and committee meetings, and many programs of interest for the community. Following the addition of a children’s wing, the library sought to create a campus that would support and enhance the library’s role as an educational and community center. Though the structure of the building is quite functional for community use, the landscape is overgrown in areas, has drainage and erosion issues, and in some areas the landscape is bare and unkempt. The Friends of the Buchanan County Public Library, seeking to address these issues and also improve the aesthetics and use of the site, enlisted the services of the Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC) to create a landscape plan.