PRESS RELEASES - JULY 2006

Library to Celebrate Renovations
George W. Hawkes Central Library Open House is 2 p.m. Sunday, July 30

July 27, 2006

On Sunday, July 30, Arlington residents will have an opportunity to preview all that is new and improved at the George W. Hawkes Central Library at 101 E. Abram St.

The Arlington community is invited to an Open House from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday’s event will feature the UT-Arlington Jazz Ensemble, tours and public demos of the new Quick Check System. Children’s activities and refreshments are also planned. Mayor Robert Cluck and members of the Arlington City Council are scheduled to attend.

According to Director of Libraries Cary Siegfried, the improvements provide a welcoming environment with many new opportunities to better serve customers. Lighting and floor improvements in the foyer have been completed. The children’s area was expanded with new furnishings and customer service desks. Quick Check machines were installed in the foyer to help reduce long lines and allow customers to use their library cards to check out their own materials.

Funding for the design, construction, equipment and furnishings totaled $625,000. Voters authorized funding for the project in a 1993 bond election. The Arlington Public Library Foundation supplemented the bond funding to enhance the Children’s Learning Center, which includes a collection of CD-Rom software to promote reading readiness and language development. A new area for teens in the lower level of the library has also been added.

The Central Library offered a modern card catalog and microfilm machines in a decorative environment that included hues of orange, harvest gold and avocado green when it was built in 1973. In 1994, it was re-named in honor of long-time editor and publisher of the Citizen Journal newspaper. Today, the library has a collection of more than 200,000 materials. It remains the city’s most popular and largest library with more than 63,000 square feet of space.

“We’re excited about the improvements we’ve made and the many opportunities we have to enhance the library experience for our customers,” said Central Library Administrator Starr Krottinger, who oversaw renovations. “Our vision is to be our community’s best and most sought after resource for information, learning and discovery.”

For more information, log on to www.pub-lib.ci.arlington.tx.us or call 817-459-6901.