At its meeting on Monday, October 19, 2026, the Montclair Public Library Board of Trustees voted to appoint DIG Architecture (also known as DIGroup Architecture) as the architect for the renovation and expansion of both library buildings under the NJEDA CAFE grant. The vote followed a unanimous recommendation from the Library's Architectural Selection Committee, and it marks the moment this project moves from planning into design.

Choosing an architect is one of the most consequential decisions in a project of this scale, so we want to share how we got here — the process, the people, and the reasons behind the choice. If you've been following along, this update picks up where “Selecting Our Architect” left off in August, when we announced that 21 firms had submitted proposals.

A quick reminder of what's at stake. This is the concurrent design and construction of two very different buildings: a gut renovation with major additions at the Main Library, Ralph Walker's 1955 mid-century modern landmark, and an addition and full renovation of the Bellevue Avenue Branch, a 1914 Carnegie library on the National Register of Historic Places. Both buildings will close at the same time to meet the four-year construction deadline tied to the CAFE grant — the largest state-supported library construction award in New Jersey history, and the first library project in the state to receive tax-credit financing. The work must achieve LEED Silver certification, navigate State Historic Preservation Office and local Historic Preservation Commission review, and keep the grant-committed program — including a teaching kitchen and a children's makerspace — intact. In short, we needed a firm that could do a great deal, at a demanding pace, without losing sight of the community it serves.

To lead the search, the Library convened an Architectural Selection Committee that was deliberately cross-functional. It brought together Library staff and Trustees, members of the Library Foundation and the Friends of the Library, Township leadership, and the Montclair Historic Preservation Commission, with professional project-management support guiding the process throughout. Several members are practicing architects, which put real design expertise directly into the room. Library Executive Director Radwa Ali facilitated the committee, whose members included the Library Board President and Vice President, the Township Mayor and a Town Councilor, the Historic Preservation Commission Chair, the Township Planner, and leaders from the Foundation and Friends.

The committee met nearly every week beginning in June to shape the search and see it through to a recommendation. Its full membership:

The committee issued a Request for Proposals, which it developed and approved in June, issued publicly over the summer, and which drew more than 20 submissions by August.

Every technical proposal was scored independently by committee members against a consistent rubric of eleven criteria worth 65 points in total. Those criteria rewarded the things this project most demands: New Jersey public-library experience, comparable large-scale construction, historic preservation and SHPO expertise, the ability to manage two buildings at once, the specific people assigned to the work, budget and schedule track records, community-engagement experience, sustainability, and the clarity of the proposal itself.

When the scores were compiled in early September, DIG Architecture ranked first, with a tight consensus among scorers — a meaningful signal that the committee saw the firm the same way. The committee then invited the five top firms to present in person.

Each firm had roughly an hour to present and a half hour for questions, speaking to their vision for both buildings, their design and community-engagement process, and how they would handle the project's trickier demands — non-traditional spaces like the Fab Lab, café, and teaching kitchen; LEED Silver inside a historic Carnegie building; accessibility; and an aggressive schedule. It was a strong field.

After the presentations, the committee's support coalesced around DIG. The firm led the technical scoring with an average of 52 out of 65, and it stood out in exactly the areas that matter most here: the strength of its full project team, budget and schedule performance, historic-preservation experience, and the clarity of its proposal. DIG is a certified Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE), and it brings a wide variety of experience across civic institutions of varying scale — from libraries to larger public and government buildings.

Taken together — the top technical ranking and its relevant, wide-ranging experience — the committee reached a unanimous recommendation.

With the appointment approved, Library staff and counsel will finalize the professional-services agreement consistent with the RFP terms. Kickoff activities will follow quickly — introductions, confirming the schedule, and launching the design and community-engagement process.

That community-engagement work begins right away. The Library's Executive Director, Radwa Ali, is leading a series of community listening sessions — Your Library, Your Voice — where residents can share how they use the library and what they hope these renovated buildings will become. The hundreds of resident voices that have already shaped this project will keep guiding the spaces DIG helps us build, and these sessions are the next chance to be heard.

This is a milestone worth celebrating — and the beginning of the real design work. We'll share more as the first drawings and engagement opportunities take shape.