Abram Street / Authentically Arlington / Cultural Arts / Development / Events / Learning / MyAbram

Jun 18, 2018

Not a "Shhh" kind of library

City of Arlington Downtown Library designed with millennial feel

ARLINGTON, Texas (June 15, 2018) With its rooftop garden, sewing machines, 3-D printers, power tools and video game consoles, the new library in downtown Arlington looks nothing like a library of the past.

“The library is totally cool again,” said Erin Halovanic, manager of the new facility. “It’s awesome.”

The George W. Hawkes Downtown Library is more about technology than tradition and much more about being creative than being quiet. “We are not a ‘Shhhh,’ kind of library,” she said.

“Libraries typically do really well with families with young children, and we do well with senior citizens, but we often lose that group in between. So, this is reflecting more of a millennial sense of what a library can be.”

The library cost $30 million -- $22 million came from the City of Arlington and another $8 million was from donations. It opens to the public Saturday. “I can’t wait to open the doors and let the whole community in to really experience a new type of library,” said Yoko Matsumoto, director of libraries for the city of Arlington.

Reading is just a small part of what the library was built for. It offers meeting rooms, places for people to collaborate and spaces for people to enjoy themselves. “We actually reworked our library rules. We no longer have a list of do’s and don’ts. We simply have a list of three short patron expectations,” Halovanic said. Those expectations are for guests to behave properly, respect staff and don’t break local, state or federal laws ...

Click here for the rest of the story by Teresa Woodard, which originally aired on WFAA on June 15, 2018. The Downtown Library opened on June 16. .