Designing Wonder

By KIM GRONNIGER

Checking out books is just the beginning at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. A recent renovation added a Kids Library with special areas for children, teens and their families to learn and play. 

Beyond Books 

The library’s vibrant, multipurpose spaces — designed by HTK Architects and brought to life by Shirley Construction — beckon book lovers of every age. The new Kids Library also welcomes adventurous children eager to climb walls, prepare pretend food in play kitchens and jump on giant rubber letters that spell READ. 

Besides borrowing books, children can watch fish dart and dive in a new saltwater aquarium, control colorful bubble tubes, play at a pretend campfire, enjoy games or assemble Lego creations.  

Other activities include a storytime stage, new daily programs and an interactive digital art project called Draw Alive, where kids color pictures of creatures and add them to a display with other patrons’ creations. 

Teens can enter the Kids Library from a separate entrance to access young adult novels and The Edge, an expansive space equipped with computers and gaming consoles. The Edge teen space has been relocated from its original 2008 position in a back hallway to a more prominent spot in the Kids Library, where it is fittingly adjacent to the adult section. 

“Before, there was a disconnect between where teens could access books and where they could enjoy activities, so it was important to integrate those again,” said Marie Pyko, chief executive officer of the library.  

She said they removed walls to create a seamless flow between sections, which lets parents easily keep track of kids of different ages and interests and allows children to choose the areas they wanted to explore without barriers. 

The Kids Library opened May 29, drawing about 500 people to the unveiling. 

“Our approach to provide flexible spaces with this renovation was very intentional,” Marie said. “We didn’t put in signs indicating recommended age groups or anything like that, and it was so gratifying during the grand opening to see kids gravitate to the spaces they wanted to enjoy right away.” 

Marie began her career as a part-time storyteller at the library in 1991 and has a special love for the Kids Library’s story and stage zone. She has enjoyed watching children’s services evolve from quiet spaces focused on books and a couple of computers for playing “Oregon Trail” into a lively haven where kids can move around and express themselves. 

“Every generation of kids has different ways to engage and learn,” she said. “We talked with parents, children and local companies after COVID-19 to determine how we should proceed, and we heard over and over that we needed to offer places where kids of all ages could connect, experiment and play.” 

The library has continued to upgrade its children’s services through the years with renovations in 1992 and 2012. This latest update is part of its 10-year master plan. 

The Kids Library was made possible in part through funding from the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library Foundation, public and private partnerships, individual donors and corporations including Advisors Excel, Capitol Federal and Security Benefit and public funds included in the 10-Year Facilities Master Plan. 

Marie said the library’s pay-as-you-go facility plan ensures “we’re not doing too much at one time and helps us stay on the cusp of what the community needs in the moment. When we renovated the library in 2002, DVDs as a format were just getting started. With the popularity of streaming platforms today, DVDs are still borrowed but aren’t checked out at the same rate and could go away by the time we renovate again. So, flexibility is essential.” 

Marie said the board of trustees and staff stay on top of business trends when deciding next steps for the library. Recent enhancements include a Level 2 Tech Center equipped with 30 computers, two recording studios and a 3D printer to spark career interests and build skills. 

“Not every child in Topeka has books or computers at home, so we can help level the playing field,” she said. 

Marie, whose background includes studies in early education, psychology and human development, said she was heartened by the community’s excitement at the Kids Library’s ribbon cutting. 

“It was magical to see kids of all ages come in with this look of wonder and load up on books and explore all the areas we were so intentional in providing,” she said. “Their energy was highly contagious, and our staff had the biggest smiles on their faces because they all helped design this opportunity for our community.” 

Reimagining How Kids Learn 

For architects Maria Kutina, principal in charge, and Maddie Safford, project manager and interior architect, designing the new Kids Library brought together their expertise and personal passions. Both mothers and lifelong library lovers, the two women used their professional insights, conversations with library staff and tours of regional libraries to reimagine the space. 

“It was a very collaborative design process,” Maria said. “We were infused with ideas and inspiration from conversations with the library team and from our field trips. We listened to the staff’s requests and priorities when creating the design.” 

She also credited her employer, HTK Architects, with fostering “an open, collaborative environment that allowed us to expand what we were thinking to bring this to life.” 

Maddie, an only child who grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, spent her free time drawing and designing plans for cities and villages to the extent that her parents encouraged her at a young age to consider architecture as a career. 

She estimated that her two children, ages 3 and 7, have checked out more than 1,000 books from the library, along with craft kits and other offerings. 

Maria, a Topeka native, remembered exploring cubbies in the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, which provided tucked-away spaces adults couldn’t access. 

“I loved hiding in those spaces just for kids and not wanting to leave when my mom called out that it was time to go,” she said, adding that her memories influenced the addition of the climbing wall. 

Maria said she loved math and art as a kid, but initially dismissed architecture as a career path. 

“I thought it was just designing houses, and I wanted to help people,” she said. “Now I get to work on projects that impact people through design so they can live, learn and work in spaces that are meaningful.” 

A mother of three kids ages 6, 10 and 12, Maria said ensuring all areas were accessible at any time was key to the design. 

“Digital interaction can have a great impact, so we structured the storytime area in a way that would allow another activity, like Draw Alive, to be available once storytime or a performance finished,” she said. “There’s also a magnetic board with tiles to make mosaics so kids can engage with the space in different ways.” 

To make the Kids Library feel lighter and airier, offices were relocated to provide better access to windows and the big dinosaur legs poking through the ceiling, a beloved feature from a previous renovation. 

“We wanted to add more natural light at the back to pull people through the space,” Maria said. “We also added internal windows to The Edge so teens could have privacy but still be visible. There’s such a range of experiences and needs in that age group, so we wanted to make that space flexible and its placement next to the adult section intentionally reflects that it’s a stepping stone to the next life phase.” 

One of the library’s key drivers, Maddie said, is to create learners for life.  

“In addition to the literacy aspect, it’s a community space accessible to all for social and emotional growth,” she said. “We wanted to include opportunities that could improve physical and mental health in a colorful environment.” 

Creating an open space with separate areas for different age groups was challenging, but staying within budget was an even bigger challenge, said Maria. 

“You could spend any amount of money on an exciting project like this because there are so many fun things that could be added,” she said. “Ultimately, we worked with the library to pick the best options for the budget we had, and we’re so happy with how it turned out.” 

Bringing the Kids Library to Life 

Aaron Elwell is president of Shirley Construction and the fourth generation of his family to join the firm, which works in sectors like education, retail and corporate. 

“We work on a lot of cool projects but usually not something like this where so many people in the community, especially kids, get to enjoy it,” Aaron said. “Many people on our team take their kids to the library so this opportunity was really special for us.” 

Construction began in November 2024 and was split into two phases to allow the library to stay open. 

“Everything we do is loud and noisy and dirty, which is challenging when you’re working in an environment that still needs to stay open to the public,” he said. “We closed off one half of the area at a time with plastic walls to keep everyone safe.” 

Because kids were excited and curious about the project’s progression, Aaron said, “Right off the bat we had to create holes in the working area so kids could peek in and see what we were doing. I went home from work a few nights and my sons told me about what we’d been working on instead of the other way around, because they’d been looking through the windows. It’s nice for them and our employees’ kids to see that our company was part of this effort.” 

One of the challenges Aaron and his team faced was protecting the dinosaur. Another was removing walls to open the space. 

“There are always a few surprises when you work in construction, and we were taking down what we thought was a sheetrock wall but was actually a brick wall covered with sheetrock,” he said. 

Aaron said they kept plastic coverings up to hide new features from kids as the work was finished. This way, things like the climbing wall and campfire setting (Aaron’s favorites) would be a surprise at the grand opening. 

Aaron said his sons, a third grader and a sixth grader, are avid library users, often coming home with books about topics he and his wife wouldn’t have thought they’d be interested in, but they’d heard about through children’s programming. 

“The library employees are always great to work with and the Kids Library is another extension of their efforts to be helpful with whatever you need,” he said. “With this project, they’ve incorporated a lot of things you’d find in a children’s museum so families can really spend a lot of time here. Their ideas will keep kids of all ages wanting to come back to learn more.”