Our old library was more than 50 years old, built when the city (which is not actually the city we live in) was very small. It was a tiny brick building that was clearly not big enough for the community it serves. The parking lot was so small, that you often couldn’t park even within a block on busy afternoons and weekends. Today was the grand opening of the new library, which, according to people who spoke at the ceremony today, was 20 years in the making (mostly in the fund-raising). Starting at 8:30 this morning, a couple thousand people lined up along the street between the old library and the new library about half a mile away, and passed 300 books (books heading to the Friends of the Library Bookstore and Cafe… the cafe serves Peet’s coffee, yay!) hand-to-hand. Rebecca and I went, and it was fun! First there was the book pass, then refreshments in the parking lot, then a big blah blah blah session with one of our state senators, our congresswoman Barbara Lee and a bunch of other folks who helped get our new library built. Then there was a ribbon cutting and we got to go inside the beautiful new place. It was pretty crowded, but we managed to check out a few things before heading home. We’re planning a more leisurely trip in a couple of days when it won’t be so busy.
Rebecca wore her Halloween costume for part of the morning, but changed when they passed out official Book Pass t-shirts to everyone.
Up the street, people lined up waiting for books.
Books coming down the line.
Books crossing the streets in carts.
The first and last books were wrapped with ribbon. The last book also had a tail and the title was “Curtain.”
The front of our new library. I wish I had a photo of our old library for comparison. The old library, though, would fit into just the childrens section of the new library!
October 31st, 2009 on 10:05 pm
Oh, the new library looks beautiful! It sounds like the opening was a really fun event. And Becca-Boo looks adorable in her costume. :)
I hope the rest of your All Hallow’s Eve is nifty as well. I wish all three of you warmth, love and lots of punkin pie. xoxo Happy Halloween!!
November 1st, 2009 on 3:23 pm
I tried taking some more photos, but there were so many people, all in my way and stuff! We’re going back tomorrow or Tuesday, I’ll get some good shots then :)
The important thing is that Becca had fun on Halloween but honestly, t-o-t’ing has gotten sort of pathetic around here. I took a photo of her entire haul, I’ll post it on flickr later, wait till you see.
November 1st, 2009 on 12:49 pm
That’s a really nifty thing to be part of. :)
November 1st, 2009 on 3:24 pm
It was really awesome! Rebecca said, “that was a great times 300 57 400 thousand times great day I’m going to remember forever!” Heh.