Wow, Jan. 27. Seems like the library has been closed for renovations forever and that it never would re-open. With Parkview moving most of its operations north, and Elmhurst High School targeted for closing no matter which school plan is adopted, it's nice to know that at least one thing is staying where it was. The older I get, the more I'm like my cats: Quit moving my stuff around! And listen to Library Director Jeff Krull talking about the new place:
We have a cafe combined with our used book shop, and we have a gallery where we can have exhibits with local artists and travelling exhibits. We have a outdoor plaza... will be available for people to use in the summer for festivals and brown bag concerts," Krull says.
[. . .]
The library will also house a 250 seat theater that will open in the spring, and will offer a 125 space underground parking garage.
Krull also could have mentioned that people are going online for a lot of other things, too, not just genealogical research. If the new library is going to be successful, it will be as much for its gathering-place amenities as for the information that can be gathered there.
Comments
>...a cafe ...our used book shop...a
>gallery...exhibits with local artists
>....travelling exhibits...a(n) outdoor
>plaza...festivals...brown bag concerts...
>a 250 seat theater ...a 125 space
>underground parking garage...
You'll pardon me if I can't find one single detail to argue in this presentation of our new central downtown library asset. The only downside I can imagine at this point is the possibility that somebody somewhere might interfere with it's efficacy.
I can't think of a better downtown social center than the promised library facility. We should do whatever it takes to secure this asset for our future, and to neutralize any subsequent influence which threatens to erode our library center's positive impact upon our downtown community.
As a successful, well respected staffer at the Disney company in California in the late '80s, I wrote a somewhat belated thank-you letter to the New Haven public library branch -- declaring my conviction that my library card has been the most important "credit card" I have ever owned. My view has not changed and never will.
I hope that countless more young people, when they finally look back on their lives as they were just beginning to take shape, will be able to say that Fort Wayne's new downtown library was equally key to their growth and successes.