Finally, A Dream Library

This is not only my son's birthday, but it's Earth Day! This is a time when ecology is playing a big hand at trying to keep us alive on a planet that we are constantly destroying. And although there are those out there who are more than aware of the quality of air we breathe and the quality of water we drink, there are just not enough of us who are aware of what is actually happening to our Earth.
However, I did get a pleasant surprise this morning when I read the New York Times. An article posted March 26, 2010 by Ariel Kaminer announced "A Library That Most Can Only Dream Of." Of course, that made me very curious since I'm sitting here in a library.
The library is Battery Park City's public library branch in the state of New York. It claims to be the city's newest, greenest one yet.
This library has an ecologically correct circulation desk made from recycled cardboard, a terrazzo staircase made of recycled glass chips, blond wood floors made from the lumber salvaged during the manufacturing of window frames. It also has a carpeted area with material made from repurposed truck tires.
The whole space is filled with oxygen and light that streams through floor-to-ceiling windows. You can gaze out those windows at the landscaped terrace.
The 10,000-square-foot library, which opened on March 18, had a rich grandfather...Goldman Sachs. The investment bank (yep! the one that's been in the news lately big time!) donated $3.5 million to the library branch, when it moved to Battery Park City in 1995.
How did this all come about? Well, a little over a decade ago, local residents started contacting elected officials and library representatives, noting how the area's population had grown. With good community organizing, a well-connected population and responsive officials, things began to take off. That's where Goldman Sachs came in. And even though many people feel the once-regarded genius of the financial world is now tainted, they did a good thing with The Battery Park City library branch.
Makes you wonder what we could do, right here in Moultrie, if we all pulled together and became advocates for our Moultrie-Colquitt County Public Library System. Wouldn't Earth Day, April 22, 2010 be a good time to start making plans to turn our library into a green zone?
It's something to think about. By becoming a member of the MCCLS Friends, you can be that advocate we need.
(http://www.nytimes.com)