People often ask what I learned during Phase 1 of the St. Louis County Library’s construction projects. My answer is always the same: the construction process is far from perfect no matter how hard you work, but what keeps us going is the thought of opening these beautiful buildings to the public. For the Library District, opening Lewis and Clark first was special because of the public’s desire for a new branch in their community.
I often thought about what branch openings would be like and had a vision in my mind, but nothing prepared me for opening Lewis and Clark on Wednesday, October 14. As library employees stood inside the branch waiting to open the doors, we could see people waiting on the other side of the doors to come in the building. I heard later that those outside talked about their excitement, and there was even a discussion of a happy dance.
As the doors were unlocked, staff burst into applause for the patrons. As they were walking in to building, they started clapping as well. It was magical to see the looks on their faces as they saw their new library and all it had to offer. The patrons were clearly proud that this building belonged to their community. While the construction process may not always be perfect, this moment certainly was.
On the first day, over 700 people visited the branch. The patrons toured the building, tried out the comfortable furniture, looked at the beautiful stained glass with light streaming through and admired the Cbabi Bayok artwork at the entrance to the children’s area.
Then they got down to the business of using the library. They checked out materials and used the computers, they scanned and faxed in the new business center, kids played in the expanded children’s area, people sat at new spacious tables with space to work and backpacks in mind, teens sat in the captain chairs and hung out in their teen space, patrons read in the quiet “living room” and they checked out more materials.
Statistics from the first four days are impressive. Patrons checked out 3,923 items, which is an increase of 10 percent over the same time last year. In addition, 92 patrons signed up for new library cards, which is a staggering increase of 119 percent over last year. Again, perfect.
The future of the branch holds so much promise. Programming begins in November with a wide variety of events for all ages including weekly story times for children ages 3-6 and lap times for children ages 0-36 months. Lewis and Clark will host a LEGO club at the branch starting on November 12 and our popular telescope lending program will be featured at the branch on November 16 at 7 p.m. when the branch hosts a Star Party with experts from the St. Louis Astronomical Society.
For adults, the branch will host bestselling local author Pat Simmons on Saturday November 7. Zumba and yoga classes will be offered at Lewis and Clark and computer classes beginning at the end of November on Word, Excel and classes related to job searching. The branch plans to offer an after school program starting in January. Club 367 will include after school programming, homework strategies and assistance.
Next summer, Lewis and Clark will have free lunches available for children all summer long as part of SLCL’s partnership with Operation Food Search. There is something for everyone, perfect.
I heard two meaningful quotes from the public on opening day. One person said, “To see that the library followed my suggestion is pretty awesome! It’s nice to know somebody listened and I had a part in making this happen.” When asked about the new library another patron said, “It’s about the future. It’s about progress. It’s ready for the 21st century.” Perfect.
Kristen Sorth is director of the St. Louis County Library.
