Noyes Library for Young Children in Kensington to close Thursday for major renovation project
Updates will expand facility’s internal footprint for staff and programming, add accessibility improvements
By
Elia GriffinMay 11, 2026 11:07 a.m.
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Kensington’s Noyes Library for Young Children is set to undergo a major renovation project starting Thursday that will bring much needed accessibility updates and space expansion to the 1893 cottage that houses the county’s only library dedicated to its youngest residents.
On Saturday morning, county and state officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony at the library at 10237 Carroll Place, marking the official start of the long-awaited renovation project.
“We cannot say how thrilled we are to be here for this groundbreaking to make more Noyes, finally,” Karen Beardsley, president of the Noyes Children’s Library Foundation, said during Saturday’s event.
Noyes Library was built in 1893 and named after Crosby Noyes, the editor and publisher of the Washington Evening Star newspaper, according to the library foundation’s website. Crosby Noyes donated the library’s first 600 books. The library is the oldest library building in the Washington, D.C. area, according to the foundation, and remains just one of eight libraries dedicated to children in the United States.
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The $7.7 million renovation project is expected to take up to a year to complete, officials said Saturday. When complete, the renovations will provide more room for library staff and early literacy programming, remodel the first-floor reading room and add two bathrooms that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to county plans. In addition, the cottage’s unfinished basement cellar will be renovated into classroom space, its attic will become a dedicated space for staff and a new glass and metal addition housing an elevator will be constructed next to the building.
Beardsley said during Saturday’s event that the project “guarantees that Noyes Children’s Library will be here for the future.”
Renovations will also create more space for the Jan Jablonski Early Literacy Training Center, Beardley said. The center, which opened at the library in 2017, is a collection of resources on early literacy for teachers, librarians, daycare providers and parents across the county and state, according to the foundation.
The library will close for renovations at 5 p.m. Thursday, according to county officials. The long-term closure is expected to last at least one year and officials said they hope to return next summer for a reopening and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
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“When it reopens, it’s going to be bigger and better and it’s going to do more than it does today,” County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said Saturday. “Noyes is where for a lot of children the reading journey begins.”
During the closure, programming typically held at the library will be at the nearby Kensington Park Library at 4201 Knowles Ave., Montgomery County Public Library Director Darcell Graham said Saturday.
Other public officials who attended the groundbreaking ceremony included Town of Kensington Mayor Tracey Furman; County Councilmembers Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4), who represents Kensington on the council, Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1), Evan Glass and Will Jawando (both D-At-large); and state Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Dist. 18) and Dels. Jared Solomon and Emily Shetty (both D-Dist. 18).
Friedson, Glass and Jawando are among the candidates running in the June 23 Democratic primary for county executive.
Renovations to Noyes library have been “a long time coming,” Elrich said, a sentiment echoed by many other officials Saturday.
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Since the 1990s, Elrich noted, the library foundation and county and state leaders have discussed the need for the renovation and rehabilitation project. According to the foundation, there were renovations to the library’s reading room in the 1940s and 1950s, and the library has only ever operated out of its first floor. When the weather permits, some activities are brought outside. Inside the library, there is little space dedicated to the library’s staff and storage and the library’s only restroom is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In 2016, the library foundation signed a memorandum of understanding with the county government to expand its building. The agreement with the county called for the library to raise at least $1.5 million for the project. In 2022, the library met its fundraising goal, with the help of private donors and state grant funding. Despite worries that the project was pulled from the county’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget in November 2024, the project continued to advance.
Solomon noted Saturday that many state lawmakers “fought for funding” for the renovation project. There were “a lot of late-night phone calls … [and] last-minute strategy sessions” that led to Saturday’s groundbreaking, he said.
Beyond the benefits for the community, Solomon noted it was where his son began his reading journey.
“We used to come here and just get picture books, and then we got board books, and now we’re getting chapter books,” Solomon said. “This library is literally how people in our community measure their children’s lives. And when they reflect back on the best parts of this community, Noyes is at the heart of that.”
One of those people is Rockville resident and Montgomery County Public Schools teacher Jennifer Binder, who attended the groundbreaking with her 4-year-old son on Saturday.
Binder told Bethesda Today that Noyes library has been an integral part of her two children’s early development. She noted that because of the library’s small size, the librarians and her children know each other by name.
“It’s really a special place,” Binder said, adding that one of her favorite things about the library is its container dedicated to items that have been licked by children. “This is a place where my kids can be themselves, and I don’t have to worry about all of the things.”
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine