Library reflects our values

By Bob Pasicznyuk

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On Saturday, our community will gather at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street SE across from Greene Square Park and the Museum of Art to celebrate the building of our new central library. The event is like our library: something for everyone with a good dose of fun targeted at our youngest customers. I hope you can join in the celebration.

One of the best things about the event is that it is on a working construction site. Our construction partners urge all to come with appropriate shoes and in our right mind.

More than 1,400 have generously invested in our new library. A common theme from investors is that preparing children for school and life is not a fad. While the new library will be only slightly larger than the one lost to floods of 2008, our children's library will nearly double in space. Our work with children shows our heart and centers our work.

We carved out space in the new library for area partnering agencies who join us in the work toward literacy and lifelong learning. It is fitting that Saturday's groundbreaking event will feature the site's inaugural story time, a potent strategy for sowing literacy.

As we build, we remember that we do this important work as a statement of our community's values. We are setting aside precious resources for public discovery and for private pondering. We live in an era where there is heady demand for traditional books along with an every-increasing demand for digital materials. We are humbled by the task but believe that it is our community's duty to provide access and the free flow of ideas.

We believe in public discourse and civic engagement. We believe that our community is stronger when we do more than tweet and blog with one another. We build an institution to laugh, cry, argue and celebrate in person.

Cedar Rapids long ago joined hands with the cities of Marion and Hiawatha for library service across our community. We share and trade our digital and print collections. We share programs and ideas. We share technology that builds bridges across the digital divide so that we mitigate a society with technology haves and have-nots.

Since the flood, Marion and Hiawatha have shouldered a disproportionate load in this important work. Our library is in their debt. Early next year, Cedar Rapids will meet our commitments by the first grand opening of a first-rate, west-side branch. In the summer of 2013, our branch will welcome the new central library. Please join us Saturday for a preview of things to come.

Bob Pasicznyuk is director of the Cedar Rapids Public Library. Comments: PasicznyukB@crlibrary.org