Could the exterior of Dartmouth’s new library look barn-chic? Should it have a fireplace? These were several ideas explored during the latest round of designs for the new Southworth Library branch.

Members of the Library Building Committee and town officials weighed in on the latest designs from architect Conrad Ello Tuesday night, offering more critical feedback as the layout starts to solidify.

The North Dartmouth Library will be demolished during a project to connect Tucker and Hathaway Roads in 2019. The committee has been pursuing plans for a new branch of the Southworth Library in the northern section of town. The favored location is on Cross Road, just north of Potter Elementary. The current planning and design is being funded through grants.

Last month, Ello presented rough floor plans for the new branch. The building as he envisioned it is composed of two wings, one being an adult section and one for young readers. Both wings would be lined with windows, overlooking an outdoor space that could be utilized for programs.

Ello’s revamped designs carry over the basic look of his last design, but added a centralized circulation desk and a public meeting room pushed off to the far right of the building that could seat 100.

Select Board Chair Shawn McDonald raised several questions about the new building, including the safety of the parking lot entrance on Cross Road.

“That section of the road is a curve. People have a tendency to fly over there,” said McDonald. “What you don’t want to create is another spot where our police officers are going to be called because somebody got T-boned going in or going out. It’s a busy road.”

McDonald also noted that, because the length of the building runs east to west, it could be a good candidate for solar panels. He also threw out an idea for the exterior of the building: making it resemble a contemporary barn to pay homage to the town’s agriculture industry.

“We’ve actually been talking about that in-house a bit,” said Ello. “Maybe [the exterior] even has a heavy timber structure and you see that expressed on the inside. It gives a little bit of life and character to it.”

Ello said, because of the shape of the Cross Road property, the library would be pushed back from the road about 200 feet, giving it an large front lawn.

“It’s very pastoral. It’s unique for a town library. It almost feels like a country library in this case with all that front yard and the woods behind,” he said.

Library director Lynne Antunes said she thinks the designs are “moving in the right direction.” The committee will reconvene on March 15 with a new round of 3D models. Ello said that he doesn’t plan to over embellish these initial three dimensional images as no designs at this point are set in stone.