Construction of the New Lake Hills Library is Underway

Construction of the new 10,000 square foot Lake Hills Library is underway in Bellevue. The $4 million library will be located in the southeast corner of the redeveloped Lake Hills Shopping Center, and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2010.

Update:

The new Lake Hills Library is due to open September 11, 2010. See The Lake Hills Library: Version 2.0 for more info.

The cost of the shell of the new library will be covered by the developer and the cost of the interior will be handled by KCLS.

The new library will include books, materials, computers, space for children and teens and a community meeting room. The current library at 15228 Lake Hills Blvd will remain open until construction of the new library is complete.

You can watch the construction of the Lake Hills Library by visiting the KCLS Photos of Construction Web page.

Lake Hills Shopping Center
The redevelopment of the Lake Hills Shopping Center will encompass 69,200 square feet of retail space, approximately 44,800 square feet of office space and 90 residential units on the 6.7-acre site. The demolishing of the existing five buildings that make up the current shopping center will make way for 14 new ones. Roughly 600 parking spaces will be made available.

Phase one is slated to be complete in spring of 2010. If tenant relocation goes smoothly, phase two of the project is estimated to be finished in late summer of 2011.

2009 Summer Reading Program is a Hit!

The King County Library System's 2009 Summer Reading Program has ended, and what a success it has been!

Throughout the KCLS member libraries, 43,549 pre-school through elementary-aged children signed up. Of those, 2891 were from Redmond. Children who completed 1000 minutes of reading time will receive a certificate of achievement, a coupon for a mini-pizza, and an art supplies kit. In addition, they were eligible for a drawing to win a laptop computer!

During the summer, each library offered a variety of children's programs. In the video below, master magician Jeff Evans amazes the kids at the Redmond Library with his magic show "The Creative Conjuror":

Teen Reading Programs
Teens have been participating in their own Summer Reading Program events, Read 3 Get One Free and Read.Flip.Win, a video book review contest. The grand prize winner’s video is based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde:

A Library with no Books?

My husband and I are planning a road trip towards the end of this month that will wind from Chicago to Cleveland, on to Philadelphia, and through all the states in New England.  As we've been chatting with people more familiar with those areas on what we should see and do, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House was mentioned.

Built between 1904-05, this unique institution straddles the U.S. and Canadian border between Derby Line, VT and Stanstead, QC.  A thick black line runs through the opera house and reading room of the library to denote which country you are visiting.  The book collection and opera stage are in Canada, the front door and much of the opera seating is in the U.S. Therefore, the U.S. library technically contains no books!

Both Americans and Canadians sit on the Board of Trustees. As expected, the book collection features both English and French. And imagine having to go through customs to see a show: the opera house website parking instruction reads "Visitors from Canada must park on the Canadian side or report to U.S. Customs." 

 

Right now, the library is about 4 hours round-trip out of our current route. . .but we might decide to take a jaunt farther north.  If not, I'll be thinking of it as we motor and hike our way through Vermont!

The Columbia Branch Library: Small is Beautiful

The Columbia Branch is one of the smallest libraries in the Seattle Public Library. Located in Columbia City, the 6,825 square foot library was built in 1915 in the Georgian Revival style of architecture. The library was constructed with funds donated by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

In 2004, the Columbia Branch was expanded to twice its original size. The new portion of the building extends from the back of the original structure, maintaining the building’s original street presence.

The renovated Columbia Branch serves the neighborhood’s multicultural community with materials in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Somali, Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya, and Tagalog, as well as many materials designed to help people learning English as a second language.

Large fan windows flood the high-ceilinged rooms with plenty of light.

Getting to Columbia City
Columbia City is easy to get via Sound Transit Light Rail. Interestingly, in 1937 the original streetcar line in Columbia City was taken out of service. The community celebrated the removal of the rails with a three-day festival.

The Historic Walking Tour Map is a great resource for exploring the 37 different historic sites and buildings that make up Columbia City.

Other Blog Postings on Libraries
Here’s a list of other Redmond Library blog postings on libraries:

The Black Diamond: A Library Connecting with the Past

The Suzzallo Library: A Case Study of Collegiate Gothic Architecture

Recent Patron Comments About the Redmond Library

You can provide comments about the Redmond Library and its service by filling out a KCLS Comment Card — available at the reference desk, or online at Comment Card. It's also an opportunity to let the library know about any suggestions you have to make the library better. Here are some excerpts from recently received comment cards about the Redmond Library:

128,000 Free eBooks!

Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, and to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books. The project tries to make these as free as possible, in open formats that can be used on almost any computer.

As of March 2009, Project Gutenberg claimed over 28,000 items in its collection. Project Gutenberg is affiliated with many projects that are independent organizations which share the same ideals, and have been given permission to use the Project Gutenberg trademark. This adds another 100,000 eBooks freely available to the public!

Top 100 eBooks
Project Gutenberg keeps track of the top downloaded eBooks. Here are some of most popular downloads this week (click the title to view the HTML format version of the eBook):

	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
	Dracula by Bram Stoker
	Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
	The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
	The Iliad by Homer
	Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
	The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
	Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
	Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Wherever possible, the releases are available in plain text, but other formats are included, such as HTML, PDF, EPUB, MOBI and Plucker. These formats cover a wide variety of PC, PDAs, cell phones, and other devices. Most releases are in the English language, but many non-English works are also available.

Other Blog Postings on Free Books
Here’s a list of other Redmond Library blog postings on free books for viewing:

International Children's Digital Library

Turning the Pages: Masterpieces of the British Library

Books24x7: a KCLS online technical resource

Your Local Library Probably Has A/C

Not only is the recent record-breaking heat wave a challenge for the 87% of Pacific Northwesterners that don't have A/C in their homes, it can be expensive!

Several of my friends have been complaining that not only has it been hot (did anyone else drive by Redmond's Banner Bank and see their sign register 121 degrees?!), they are spending a lot more money to stay cool - eating out every meal, going to the movies, and going to the bookstore.

Join 2,300 of your neighbors and beat the heat for free at Redmond Regional!  Normally, the library averages 1,400-1,500 visitors per day. As the temperature steadily climbed, so did door counts at the library: Monday over 1900 and Tuesday over 2,200. Last Wednesday, with all-time temperature highs, Redmond Regional was also breaking its own record - 2,305 patrons!

Read a book, participate in one of the library's many programs, and enjoy free wi-fi.  You might just need to bring your own chair!