Street View is a monthly column taking a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.
The old Donelson library sits in a leafy, recessed little park between two churches and across from a Taco Bell. It’s an unassuming but beautiful building: small and full of light, with the same “easy and unpretentious elegance” that a Tennessean article from its 1966 opening described. Like every branch of the Nashville Public Library, the Donelson Branch Library is more than just a place to check out books. There are signs for ballet story time, professional headshots and the chance to check out useful objects from NPL’s Library of Things.
But at only 7,344 square feet, the old Donelson library can no longer accommodate the growing neighborhood surrounding it. So just down the road, a new library is underway.
The new Donelson library is set to officially open June 24. Located at 2714 Old Lebanon Pike, the new library covers more than 24,000 square feet and will house about 30,000 books and other materials. According to the library’s website, it took more than 1,655 cubic yards of concrete and 329 tons of steel to build the LEED-certified building. The space also features permanent installations by artists Scott Constable and Ene Osteraas-Constable (known as Wowhaus) and Amber Lelli.
The new library has dedicated programming spaces, six study rooms and a mobile kitchen for a variety of cooking classes. Patrons will also be able to check out artwork through the Metro Arts Lending Library collection. There’s also easier accessibility for many patrons, including an adult changing room, a computer carrel designed for patrons with children, and multilingual signage in English, Spanish, French and Arabic.
The new library is part of a larger development plan in Donelson, which links back to a 2009 effort (and 2011 follow-up) from Metro to convert “Downtown Donelson” to an Urban Design Overlay district, with better walkability, mixed-use properties and easily accessible transit. More recently, there’s been a significant plan to revitalize Donelson Plaza — Holladay Properties added 104 housing units in a building called The Flats at Donelson Plaza in 2023, and refurbished facades and landscaping on the 1960s shopping center.
If you live in a Holladay properties unit, the area is walkable. The surrounding areas, however, often aren’t — there are still sidewalk gaps and busy streets. Still, the area does realize some of the 12-year-old plan to make the suburb more livable. There’s the WeGo Star line and Donelson Station just down the road, and the new library is next to a stop for the Lebanon Pike bus route. Alongside local favorites like Homegrown Taproom and The Game Cave, new businesses have moved in as Donelson Plaza changes and grows. There’s even a new “parklet” planned.
Ryan Darrow, Donelson Branch manager
“That sort of Downtown Donelson vibe is really starting to come to fruition,” says Ryan Darrow, the Donelson Branch manager, mentioning the nearby FiftyForward, the Hip Donelson Farmers Market and other businesses. “Even if people are driving and not walking from their home to the library, if they’re driving to any one of those locations, they don’t have to drive from location to location within this core area here.”
Alongside the new building, the Donelson Branch is increasing its staff from six people to 17. Darrow says the additional staff means everyone has more time — especially for new programming and outreach.
For Chelsy Melvin, librarian in the young adult section, the new location has meant exciting new connections in the local community. Melvin transferred to the Donelson Branch from the Main Library in March — since then, she’s been growing connections with local middle schools, meeting school librarians and asking students what resources they need. “A lot of the answers were around art and tech,” Melvin says. Many students also wanted to learn cooking skills, leading library staff to plan programming that included cooking classes for all ages.
Chelsy Melvin, Donelson Branch librarian
Melvin says she’s excited for the move, noting it has brought out the best in the Donelson staff, who have “so many great ideas and so much willingness to help out.”
“It’s also been really fun to see the community excitement,” she says. “Every time people came into [the old Donelson library], they were counting down with us.”
A few days before Darrow and Melvin speak with the Scene, movers had picked up the books from the old Donelson library and delivered them to the new location. Darrow and Melvin casually relayed that library staff had shelved the entire collection — thousands of books — in two days. When pressed to elaborate, Darrow simply points out that some books are still checked out. (NPL has had a no-late-fees policy since 2017, which it kept in place for Donelson patrons during the move.)
With books on the shelves, signage in place and the Donelson staff all together, the new library will be ready to go. Plans for the old building are still “up for discussion,” Darrow says.
Nashville’s growth has meant losing many familiar haunts as the city makes way for rapid change. In Donelson, that means saying goodbye to the 1960s glass building behind the trees on Lebanon Pike. But in this case, change will help the community: The new library means access to a space that’ll be much more than just a bigger building with more books.
“It has to be said: Donelson loves their library,” says Darrow. “They love that old building. For a lot of folks in the community, there was a little bit of a grieving process about that old building because of those memories.
“But also, there’s such excitement for getting a space that essentially quadrupled the size,” he continues, “and all that means for the community.”
