The Columbus Metropolitan Library is set to open its 22nd branch on Monday. The 4,000 square foot library will be CML’s first branch in the Marion-Franklin area, which tends to be cut off from the rest of greater Columbus by railroads and busy highways.
“For us the important thing is that we’re investing in the Marion-Franklin community, but also strengthening our relationship with Columbus City Schools,” said Ben Zenitsky, marketing and communications specialist for CML.
The new library will be in the space formerly occupied by the Beery Middle School media center, leased to CML in 2013 by Columbus City Schools for $1 a year over five years. CML needed only a couple of months to renovate the space, which is now ready to open on Sept. 15 with standard library services, including public computers, wireless internet access, a Reading Buddies program and a Homework Help Center sponsored by Bob Evans.
“It’s a smaller branch, but it will pack a big punch in terms of what kind of programming will be offered,” said Zenitsky.
Zenitsky said CML hopes to capitalize on the location of the new branch, which is on a major thoroughfare next to Marion-Franklin High School. CML has been in contact with community members and the Marion-Franklin Civic Association for some time making plans to put a library branch in the most beneficial and accessible location for the neighborhood.
“We want to be right in the thick of it,” said Zenitsky. “We’re here for the community.”
Robert Patterson, president of the Marion-Franklin Civic Association, said he has been working to bring a library into the neighborhood for five or six years, largely in response to the number of area children whose grades were suffering.
“We had all these children out here and we had no library for the children to go to,” said Patterson.
At the time, the closest CML branches were on South High St. or Parsons Ave., neither of which was within walking distance for Marion-Franklin children. To Patterson, having a nearby library was essential to help local students succeed in the classroom.
“These third graders, they say they cannot read, but they cannot read because they have no way of getting a book,” said Patterson.
Patterson believes the new library will also help job-seekers in the community who are required to fill out applications and submit resumes online, but don’t have access to a computer or the Internet at home. Patterson said he has heard from a number of senior citizens who also don’t have computers but want to be able to go read at a library of their own.
“I’m just hoping that people that said they’re really interested in it will keep on coming,” said Patterson, adding that he hopes the Marion-Franklin branch can expand if it gets enough use by the community.
CML has embarked on an effort to renovate or rebuild 10 libraries in the next few years, but the Marion-Franklin branch is not a part of that program. Zenitsky instead described the library as a pilot opportunity to gauge over the next five years how effectively CML can use a space previously occupied by a school, as well as forming a new partnership with the school district.
“We are thrilled to extend CML’s reach into this community, and to be a hub for out-of-school learning for its young minds,” said CML CEO Patrick Losinski in a press release.
The new library branch will open on Sept. 15 after a short dedication ceremony at 3:30 pm.
For more information, visit www.columbuslibrary.org/locations.