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WASHINGTON, DC-In an effort to spur the development of a new central library, Mayor Anthony A. Williams has introduced the Library Transformation Act of 2006. The legislation was submitted to the Council of the District of Columbia and seeks approval of the issuance of bonds to finance the revamping of the city's entire library system. It would specifically construct a replacement of the central library--the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library--on a parcel no larger than one acre at the former Washington Convention Center site.

According to the Mayor's Task Force on the Future of the District of Columbia Public Library System, the new facility would cost $180 million to develop and would take an estimated three years to build. DC's current central library is located at 901 G St, NW, two blocks west the Verizon Center and about two blocks south of the old convention center locale.

Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the current facility opened in 1972. Williams has argued that upgrading the 400,000-sf structure would not be cost effective. "I think it will be just as expensive to do a renovation of the central library but without the added benefits of creating unique public space in the center of Downtown, attracting residents as new patrons, and enticing visitors and scholars alike."