Hiram Rhodes Center-Eudora Welty Library What does a library mean to members of the public in modern times? In what ways is a democracy or democratic values held or authorized in public buildings? What is the authority of the designer, city, community, or State in the architecture of civic life? How can the role be redefined for the needs of twenty-first-century American society, in a manner that acknowledged the past so a path forward may be created?