Jack Martin

Jack Martin first arrived at the Providence Public Library in 2014 and took a mental note of how the place looked. The word that came to mind was “­miserable.”

The downtown library was outdated with small spaces, narrow hallways, drab drop ceilings and fluorescent lights. He set to work changing that. More than six years and $27 million later, the work is complete.

Martin, PPL’s executive director, has overseen a remarkable transformation of the library’s mid-20th-century wing into a bright, state-of-the-art facility – the largest library renovation in state history. Not an easy feat, considering that the Providence Public Library isn’t funded by the city.

Nearly 80% of the library’s funding is private, which means fundraising for the renovation has been, and continues to be, arduous for Martin.

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But there’s one thing Martin and his staff couldn’t have planned for: no one being able to show up when the massive renovation project was complete. A grand reopening had been set for March 30, 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic arrived just a few weeks before that.

More than a year later, the library was still operating in a limited capacity, its new interiors unseen by most of the public.

Still Martin’s work continues, and changes at the library go much deeper than reconstruction. The library has become more nimble, launching new services and educational programs that fit with changing technologies and new audiences.

“There’s a misconception that public libraries give people books and that’s all we do,” Martin told PBN. “But we really help people with their lives.”