Maximizing Pedestrian Access to Cambridge Public Libraries
MIT, 2023
The city of Cambridge has seven library branches that are relatively evenly distributed. Our team focused on measuring and improving the
accessibility to public libraries of under 15 year olds and over 65 year olds within Cambridge. Less than 50% of children and older adults live within
800m from a library branch.
After analysis, we determined that the Central Square Library branch has
the potential to serve the maximum number of children and older adults,
despite being 1/10th of the size of the largest branch. Additionally, we
determined that introducing additional library resources such as a mobile mini library in neighborhoods where residential blocks are beyond the 800m buffer could increase patronage. In deciding where to place these mini libraries, we could considered the locations in relation to the locations of elder care facility locations, school, and low-income households.
In collaboration with:
Shannon Hasenfrantz
Q Rael
Ann P. Sahacharoenwat
James Shaw
MIT, 11.324 Modeling Pedestrian Activity
Professor Andres Sevtsuk
Cambridge, MA
architect & urbanist
@BETHLEHEM TESFAYE, 2025. All works, unless noted.