The Information Technology Group operates all things digital for the New York Public Library which includes all the branches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. Starting as an incubator group to begin digitizing the Dewey Decimal System, it has become an all-encompassing operational group that includes the hub for all computer networks of the library, the repository of all digitized archives and collections and all facility operations. It also creates and maintains a multi-thousand page web site of the Library. The relationship of this hub facility to the entire library network is the generator of the particular design issues that are employed. Of paramount importance is that the operations run 24 hours-7days a week; therefore, the design for renovation is a staged event. Also, the re-use and necessarily, the re-position of much of the existing equipment and office systems are reconfigured because of the nature of the ongoing operations. A very detailed program and operations analysis is the prerequisite for the correct implementation of this facility upgrade. The space allocation for the several groups that share the space is the result of a reappraisal of the required adjacencies between the groups as well as access to the computer rooms and means of egress. The organizing feature to solve the main planning puzzle is a central spine - a Main Street. As it was, there was difficulty navigating the facility, for the staff to get from point A to point B without going through point C. Once the point of reference became a Commons, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The use of the central spine - MAIN STREET - also creates an opportunity to give formal shape to an otherwise mundane space. A drop-ceiling of one height throughout was able to be relieved with an alternate second higher height that echoes Main Street and creates an event--a Commons--where staff and visitors can detect a sense of place. Also, important sub-areas or rooms such as the conference room and reception area are, as a consequence, interesting as adjacent spaces with dividers that are partially exposed to Main Street. Staff usability is enhanced along Main Street in the Common areas. Natural light penetrates through translucent clerestories which bridge the perimeter window walls to the central spine. Impromptu conferences between staff members from interrelated groups have a neutral area in which to converse. Visitors can get a sense of the facility and more easily find and do business with the various groups without feeling as if they were being shuffled through a maze. But most of all, as the facility most responsible for bringing the NYPL into the 21 st Century, the new space is a symbol of modernity and functionality.