Date of Submission
Spring 5-9-2026
Degree Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Architecture
Department
Architecture
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Robin Z. Puttock
Abstract
Childhood in the United States, aged 3-14, today is increasingly defined by social disconnection and digital saturation. Environmental pressures, political instability, and especially the pervasive presence of screens and AI tools are displacing tactile, imaginative, and relational experiences that once nurtured connection and play (Erstad 2024; Costanza et al. 2023; Turkle). Families, too, feel this rupture: parents and children may sit side-by-side, yet remain socially worlds apart. Public libraries have historically served as civic anchors: equitable access points for knowledge, safe gathering spaces, and trusted social infrastructure supporting health equity and civic engagement (Mersand et al. 2019; Philbin et al. 2019). Today, libraries already provide resources that directly or indirectly support the health and well-being of both adults and young people, yet public awareness of these services remains limited. Research shows they can act as platforms for community engagement, resilience-building, mental health support, and reducing social isolation. Recognizing this untapped potential underscores the opportunity to reimagine libraries as urban sanctuaries for children and families, where relational connection, imaginative play, and well-being are fostered through design (Springer, 2024). This challenge is especially urgent in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, a neighborhood with one of the highest child densities in the city, over 3,500 children packed into a footprint of only 30–50 blocks (~8,400 children per square mile, compared to ~2,400 citywide). Yet this environment offers just 9.1 acres of open space, effectively no restorative breathing room for youth, alongside some of the city’s highest noise complaints, visual drugs usage, and traffic-injury rates. For children and families, overstimulation, insecurity, and disconnection are part of daily life. In this context, the library is uniquely positioned to evolve: not as a silent book repository or noisy multipurpose hall, but as a family-engagement sanctuary: a civic refuge designed to counteract digital saturation and urban stress, and to restore connection across generations.