Today, at 10:30am, you can join other southwest Louisville residents in a moment of huge momentum for the Louisville Free Public Library. Library officials along with Mayor Greg Fischer are breaking ground for the new Southwest Regional Library. In just a few hours, become part of a huge milestone thirty years in the making.
The Louisville Free Public Library is really on my mind these days. I've been seeing tons of highlights from the library over the past couple of years. Back in February, the Library unveiled the beautiful design of this new regional library. The ever popular summer reading program is in full swing. They offer countless ways to connect with technology, with teens, with ESL residents, with college-age students, with homeschooling families, with communities all over Jefferson County. Southwest Louisville: here they come.
The current southwest branch of Louisville Free Public Library takes up residence (renting 19,000 square feet) in the Dixie Valley shopping center. It's been there since 1995 serving the southwest residents of Louisville proudly and diligently. Now, with this new state of the art library, they hope to serve 100,000 or more. The new library will be built with the following features and services in mind:
- 40,000 square feet on 4.1 acres of land
- Provide 140,000 books along with other reading materials
- 100 computers to serve the public’s needs as well as WiFi access
- A teen-oriented center, as well as a larger children’s library
- Many spaces for quiet reading, studying, and public meeting areas that will hold up to 100 people
The building of this library is a $13 million project, $9.5 million of which has been approved through a bond issue with the Metro Council. The Library strives to raise the remaining 3.5 million through fundraising efforts. The design team is comprised of JRA Architects in Louisville, Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle Ltd. of Minneapolis, staff from the library and the Project Management Division of the Metro Department of Public Works and Assets.
Join some very eager residents, librarians, and city officials at the groundbreaking today. It is being held at the building site for the new library at 9725 Dixie Highway near Kendall Road and Valley High School. An avid fan of LFPL, (as a former children's librarian at the Jeffersontown branch), I adore the library system. I applaud them for their efforts to increasingly reach new heights. I support them always and am excited to see the updated Master Plan come to fruition. This new library is a testament to a commitment to Louisville, education, lifelong learning, and southwest Louisville.
As always, I hope to see you at the Library.
Image courtesy of www.lfpl.org
