To connect to nature, sometimes you need to invite people indoors.
That’s the big idea at Adams County’s Anythink Libraries. They’ve used their seven locations not only to lend books and keep kids and parents busy, but to defuse the anxiety of getting into nature and outdoor activities.
Its programs range from free with fishing poles, tents and backpacks, to workshops and events that let cardholders interact with goats, bees and park rangers. And Anythink’s new, $43.4 million project pushes the concept into even more inviting territory.
is a 33,000-square-foot building that sits on a grassy, windswept 15 acres in Thornton — just next to the 140-acre Aylor Open Lands, and across the street from a group of houses at the intersection of East 136th Avenue and Newport Street.
The handsome structure, all natural wood and curved, floor-to-ceiling windows, is one of those “look at me!” buildings that mixes practicality with larger-than-life design, Anythink leaders said. A lofty sculpture dominates the main entrance, which not only holds up the roof with 18 tons of steel pipes but twists into a surreal, tree-like shape that snakes into the roof.
Thornton leaders approached Anythink in 2019 about the Aylor Open Lands — and specifically their drive to replant its 140 acres with “all-native vegetation, and really bringing the site itself back to like pre-colonial status,” said Mark Fink, executive director of Anythink Libraries.
“That began this whole conversation about Anythink’s larger goals in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “What does our community want and need?”
For one, a way to grow Anythink’s current programming and further connect underserved communities to the outdoors. That includes the more than 40% of Adams County’s population that identifies as Latino — a group that until recently was less likely than others to engage in fitness and hiking, according to the .
“Adams County is close to the mountains, but a lot of people still don’t have access,” Fink said. “There are a lot of barriers for people to actually have this traditional Colorado experience in nature, or go to the mountains, so we’re bringing it to their backyard.”
Anythink’s eighth overall location will feature 35,000 curated nature and ecology books, weekly programming, and shiny new gear to keep visitors coming back. Threaded throughout is an even cooler environment to send them back into, whether snowshoeing the gently hilly grounds or admiring the Front Range from a boulder while noting plant and insect species.
“Our architects and the design team were really inspired by the wind and short-grass prairie landscape as a whole,” said Maria Mayo-Peaseley, branch manager at Anythink. “The name of the design for this building is windswept, which is really meant to mirror that.”
And, leaders said, honor the land with environmentally friendly design. Anythink is hoping it will become Thornton’s most energy-efficient building, with the library’s geothermal field providing heat and cooling, a fully electric mechanical system, and LED lighting all around, .
The indoor-outdoor theme springs from a mix of elements. There are “nature labs” with hands-on learning, gardens and comfy seats, and a one-mile loop trail that funnels visitors to and from the building. Inside, there are kiddie, teen and adult rooms, meeting and relaxation areas, a café with indoor and outdoor seating, a sunroom, and even a low-sensory dark room for those who benefit from that. A central, open-air Kinship Garden will gather visitors to read, chat and hear from speakers on boulder-laden grounds.
The amenities come from bilingual surveys, consultations with Indigenous leaders (who helped inspire the sunroom), and observations of how children interact with libraries and parks, Mayo-Peaseley said, among others.
“There’s the collection, then there’s that physical aspect of feeling the wind on your face and the soil on your hands,” she said. “And risky play — like clambering around on boulders.”
It’s a cross between a library, a National Parks visitor center, and an REI, Fink said.
It’s not unheard of for libraries, which have lately experimented with hip, popular programs that draw new and younger readers while giving longtime card-holders a reason to visit in-person. At the Denver Public Library system and others in the metro area that includes movie nights, poetry readings, fitness workshops, live music, after-hours parties and bilingual events.
Anythink Nature Library has planted its flag in nature, but it still needs support for programming. The building and site is already fully funded, Fink said, with design by Davis Partnership and THK Associates, and . But during National Library Week, April 19-25, the nonprofit Anythink Foundation is inviting donations to fund the upcoming wave of programs, and to add even more public art to the site (see for details).
“We want to give people a framework for connecting to nature,” Fink said. “So if you’re really confident about nature, you can borrow our snowshoes and go snowshoeing around the 140 acres in the winter. But if you’re more comfortable playing in mud that we have outside and having that first-time experience with your kid, this is the kind of place where you can do that.”
