Almost Ready to Be Checked Out

Newly Renovated Takoma Park Branch Library Will Reopen Next Week

For five months while their beloved library was being renovated, patrons of the Takoma Park Neighborhood Library climbed aboard Mario Hodge's cramped bookmobile to check out reading material and DVDs or to surf the Web.

But next week the brightly colored vehicle will pull away from its spot beside the District's oldest neighborhood public library. It will return to roaming the city, its job at Takoma Park completed.

The historic library, built in 1911, has undergone a $1.95 million makeover and will reopen Tuesday. The one-story Renaissance revival-style brick building, at 416 Cedar St. NW, got a new floor plan, replicas of original furniture, more space for books, more computers, better lighting and restored architectural details.

"There wasn't a lot that we could do in that bookmobile," librarian Helen Hiltz said yesterday as she gave city officials a tour. "Now we are back home."

The renovation is part of a $55 million citywide effort to transform the library system. As part of that program, six libraries are in various stages of construction, and two are in the design stage. Anacostia, Deanwood and Shaw are getting new libraries. The Georgetown branch, badly damaged in a fire in April 2007, is getting a major overhaul.

"We have six new libraries opening in fiscal 2010, three brand-new ones as well as three joint-use projects, and another renovation," said Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for the D.C. public libraries. "They are coming online very quickly, and you are here at the first."

In tough economic times, officials said, residents turn to public libraries for entertainment. D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) said they are also "safe havens in the community, much like recreation centers."

"Washington, D.C., is a cosmopolitan city; it is world-renowned. But there are really nice quiet neighborhoods like Takoma, and the libraries are kind of like community meeting places," Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said.

Carolivia Herron, author of several books including "Nappy Hair," said she launched her literary career at the Takoma library.

"I was a 10th-grader at Coolidge High School," Herron said. "I would come here to do my homework after school. . . . Sometimes when I didn't want to do my homework, I would reach up and read a lot of the poetry books. I discovered T.S. Eliot here. That was a mind-changing moment for me. I learned how to use language in a completely different way."