Public libraries are becoming co-working spaces, a trend that benefits both users and institutions, The Washington Post reported.

The recently renovated flagship branch of the Washington public library features private meeting rooms, a café and a rooftop where people work and hold meetings—and attend a rooftop concert series. Employees help with license applications and tax filings.

“A lot of people don’t realize that the library isn’t this super quiet, no-speaking zone anymore,” entrepreneur William Gray told the Post. “Now it’s like a hangout vibe. The only thing that’s the same is that they still have books."

Libraries are evolving to serve remote and hybrid workers better, especially in large metropolitan areas, Brooks Rainwater, CEO and president of the Urban Libraries Council, told the Post.

This evolution has helped libraries to rebound from the pandemic. In 2022, in-person visits to most urban public libraries rose to more than 50 percent of 2019 levels, a number that’s expected to rise even higher in 2023, according to the Urban Libraries Council.

“We’re seeing more young professionals, people working on their own businesses or working remotely,” Skye Patrick, library director for the Los Angeles County Library, told the Post. “A lot of people forgot how important it is to have some sort of adjacency, a way to socialize.”

Steve Sanders, chief technology officer for DonorSpring, a small software start-up in Yorkville, Ill., prefers local libraries to his home office. “It’s easy to feel isolated working remotely and not seeing people in person,” he said.

Kathy Bach, public services director at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, said that libraries can help people with their professional needs, offering free computers, assistance filling out unemployment paperwork, workshops for résumés and classes on using job sites. She said that after taking advantage of these benefits, people will return, dressed in working attire, to take job interviews in private meeting rooms.

Gregor Smart, curator of the Boston Public Library’s Kirstein Business Library & Innovation Center, thinks of himself as a “hotel concierge” whose job is to help patrons find whatever they need: a private meeting room with a whiteboard and display monitors; computers equipped with Adobe’s creative suite. He connects like-minded professionals and also offers mentoring sessions for small-business owners, and career fairs and workshops for aspiring podcasters.

“What I love about our space is that you never know who’s going to be there,” he said. “We can all learn from each other.”

Despite the changes, however, old customs die hard.

“It’s a constant conversation to let people know you don’t need to be quiet in the library, no one’s going to shush you,” said Rainwater.