WASHINGTON — In the cosmopolitan age of the Internet and smartphones, the printed word has seemingly been suffering an agonizingly slow death — as devices for reading such as e-books are becoming ever more popular, libraries have had a hard time of it. But in the neighborhood of Tenleytown, this is simply not the the case. “The library is really engaged in the community,” says Karen Blackman-Mills, the library’s branch manager. “We host a lot of community focus groups.”
The Tenleytown library has actually become an enormous fixture in the community during an era where most libraries’ usage has plummeted. The library is a hugely popular study destination for college students, who enjoy the usage of the study rooms and the 20 powerful computers arrayed around the library. Local families also come for the children’s read-alongs every day. In fact, the Tenleytown library has such popular children’s events that there are tickets to reserve spots. The library sees “easily 100 or more upstairs every day,” whether they are looking for a quiet study space, or simply perusing the library’s literary collection of thousands of books, Blackman-Mills said.
It is these local families who comprise the majority of the library’s business. Children’s books are the most circulated, and the library’s staff tries to develop a love for reading and knowledge in the children of the community.
The library’s status as a community fixture is not new. The two story building on Wisconsin and Albemarle, originally constructed in the 1960s, underwent extensive renovations in 2011 to become more technologically advanced and environmentally friendly, a controversial move at the time. Features added include a green roof, solar panels and a reduction in water for sewage by 49 percent. These innovations, among many others, make the library 27 percent more energy efficient than a comparable building.
The $16 million renovations, while expensive, had a dual purpose: representing the community’s liberal values, which include an interest in protecting the environment, and saving money in the long term, she said.
“If you can save $1 million in utilities a year…it’s amazing,” says Megan McNitt, one of the adult librarians. Additionally, the library felt pressured by the community to renovate due to problems presented by aging materials at the nearby Cleveland Park library. “People become very attached to their neighborhood library…a lot of people even come from other towns,” says McNitt.
Indeed, while the library is a fixture for the Tenleytown community, it remains a public space, open for anyone’s use. People from nearby towns in Virginia and Maryland often come to the library, and enjoy the same level of access as anyone from Tenleytown; they are even able to get library cards. When checking out books, the current policy is that they have no late fees for children’s books, and coming soon library-goers will not be required to pay for any books they lose.
Whatever else the future may hold, McNitt believes that the Tenleytown library will only continue to have an immensely positive impact on its community. She is also confident that the library will remain successful in the face of competition from e-readers, and she will “expect the unexpected,” she said.