BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE
As one of the smallest libraries in the Hennepin County system, Roosevelt has to make a little noise to get what it needs. It is one of only two or three libraries in the system to have a very restricted schedule of 24 hours a week—eight hours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Although many in the neighborhood would like to get more open hours, the county budget is not able to provide the extra staff at this time. But despite this, Roosevelt has a lot going on and a lot to offer. Like the bigger libraries, it has a computer section that is always busy, and it has possibly the best children’s section in the system, with specially made low-level bins and shelves, and lots of toys, including a little wooden kitchenette. The library also has iPads to check out for free. And it has one of the nicest meeting rooms in the system too. Anyone can book a meeting room online for any time the library is open.
Roosevelt Library reopened after its long renovation period in June 2013. The county had considered closing it, but the neighborhood clamored to keep it, and then City Council Member Sandy Colvin Roy championed it, and so instead of closing, the little library across the street from Roosevelt High got a spiffy makeover. If you haven’t been in to see it (and why not? it’s been over two years!) you really should, because it’s beautiful. The designers seized upon its classic Arts and Crafts/Prairie-style look and oomphed that up with beautiful wood fixtures and arty touches (like the Sheryl Tuorila mosaics), which won it a 2014 Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Award.
Even before the Roosevelt Library reopened, the Friends of the Hennepin County Library began to organize a Friends group to support and nurture it. Organizing meetings were held at nearby Nokomis Library, where Amy McNally was already the librarian and was slated to get the lead position at Roosevelt, making the two something like “sister libraries.” The Friends group was thus in place to help plan and execute the grand opening celebrations. Almost immediately, they got to work with Book Sales to raise money for extra programs. Currently, book sales are held four times a year on a Saturday in January, April, July and October. Last Saturday was the fourth and final 2015 Book Sale and included a family fun day with lawn games and family portraits and other celebratory events. Keep an eye out for the January sale, which is always a good one. Last year, the Friends group purchased “the aubergine cart,” a purple-ish metal book cart on which used books for sale sit near the librarian’s desk to form a permanent fundraiser. Check it out next time you’re there.
Apart from book sales and children’s programming, which is strong, adult special programming has struggled to get going. The most successful is a Mystery and Thriller Book Club which has met monthly for almost two years. (The November meeting is Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. and the book is Tana French’s “In the Woods.”) A Writing Group is also meeting monthly; it took several months and a few false starts to get it off the ground, but it seems to have come together. They meet one Saturday a month at 1 p.m.; the next one is Nov. 14. Another program that was tried was Trivia Games. Over the past year, three sessions were held, and although they got rave reviews from the participants, there just weren’t enough participants to justify the intense use of staff time to prepare the games. The staff and the Friends group are considering having a try with board games next.
Incidentally, if you are interested in these or some other kind of family, teen or adult programming, do tell the library staff at your library what you want and how you would support it. This makes a big difference in where the always scarce resources can be directed. Roosevelt Library is planning to survey its public via some kind of fun interactive voting, which is under development now. Look for that in the library later in October. I plan to vote for another try at the trivia games, although board games sounds like fun, too. Another way you can interact is through the Friends of the Roosevelt Library, which incidentally has a Facebook page of the same name.
As mentioned before, Roosevelt’s strongest offering is in the children’s programs, from babies to teens. A popular offering is Baby Storytime, which will be Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14. It’s for babies age newborn to 24 months, with a parent or caregiver. For kids in grades 7 through 12, there will be a fun crafty event called “Make This: T-shirt Accessories” on Oct. 22 at 3:30 p.m. (more details available on hclib.org website or in the library.)
Finally, throughout the library system, October is Teen Read Month. In a bid to get teens to re-engage with reading and library patronage, fines up to $10 will be forgiven for teens, and lost library cards will be replaced for free. The hclib.org website also has a massive, excellently curated list of reading suggestions for teens to whet their appetites and start setting a lifelong habit of reading free books.
