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Area students and teachers join Mayor Fenty and Chief Librarian Cooper,
ANC 8B03 Commissioner Darrell Gaston and Brenda Richardson
(Ward 8 council staffer and former library trustee)
for Parklands-Turner ribbon-cutting. |
A new "storefront" library is open at the Shops at Parkland, 1547 Alabama Ave. SE, offering 25,000 books, CDs, DVDs and other materials. The 4,900-square-foot Parklands-Turner Neighborhood Library replaces the kiosk previously located across the street. The $878,000 project was completed in approximately 14 months.
While smaller than standard neighborhood libraries, the storefront model provides local space for children's, teen and adult programming, as well as a place for students to receive homework help or just hang out. Wi-fi and 20 public access computers are available. Customers can request materials from anywhere in the system.
Mayor Adrian Fenty joined local leaders and Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper for a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 5. “We are pleased that Parklands-Turner residents now have more convenient access to some of the District's best community resources,” he said at the ceremony.
Students from nearby Turner-Green Elementary School participated in the event, with several helping Fenty read remarks about the new library. Children from the Frederick Douglass Headstart program also attended, reporting that they were eager to explore the new collection and prepared in advance: Each 3-year-old is already the proud possessor of a library card.
Statistics for circulation at the new location are not yet available, but DC Public Library reports an 80 percent increase in circulation citywide, and Cooper said this newly outfitted facility is expected to add to that trend.“The community already visits the Shops [at Parkland] to eat, shop and bank,” she said, explaining that “once people see [all that is offered], visiting this new that library will become a larger part of this community's routine.” |
