Eastern Avenue Library Update - What's It All About?
The Eastern Avenue Library has been under discussion as part of the Davenport Public Library's "Branching Out" Project that was approved by the Davenport City Council in 2002. The project entails constructing two branch libraries for the city so that library services can be extended to all citizens. The first branch, Fairmount, is located in the northwest section of the city and has been highly successful. It has become a community center for the neighborhood as it provides many programs for families, children and teens. It offers twenty public computers which are busy throughout the day and evening as it provides high speed Internet service. A valuable lesson learned since Fairmount's opening is the number of people who did not realize what the library of the 21st century offers.
The Eastern Avenue location is in a new growth area north of 53rd Street and will be surrounded by a residential development on three sides. South of the library will be three Little League baseball fields, soccer fields and tennis courts. A site for a school is also planned south of the library site. The library will be centrally located between 67th and 53rd Streets. This facility is anticipated to be as busy as the Fairmount Branch.
The Main Library will remain the "cornerstone of the down town" and will continue to offer services to our central city. This will be the primary reference and research center of the system as well as containing the bulk of the approximately 300,000 volume collection. It will continue to house the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center for genealogy and local history, the Administration, Technical Services, Information Technology, and Public Relations Departments of the library.
The FRIENDS of the Davenport Library is the library's foundation and its fundraising group. The FRIENDS have been actively involved in the "Branching Out" Project and continue to fundraise to reach its goal of $3.2 million for the Eastern Avenue Branch.
Tom Brooke, current President of the FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library and member since 2006, will be discussing the Eastern Avenue Library Project along with LaWanda Roudebush, Library Director. Tom is an Account Executive with Clear Channel Radio and is also a member of the City of Davenport Abandoned Housing Taskforce. He is also a member of the Quad City Singers and is an inactive member of the North Scott Rotary. He and his wife Jennifer have four children.
LaWanda is the Library Director of the Davenport Public Library and is currently involved in her fifth library construction project. She has worked in libraries most of her life and returned to Davenport five years ago after being gone from the area for eleven years. Her husband, Peter, and she have three grown children and three grandchildren.
Come and learn where we are in the project!