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Edgewater Library at home in heart of community

Contributed by: Ioanna Athanasopoulos on 3/28/2007

By Amy Denniff, Edgewater Library supervisor

"What is more important in a library than anything else-than everything else-is the fact that it exists." -Archibald MacLeish

Founded in the 1930s and perched in the heart of Edgewater for the last 20 years, the Edgewater Library has provided knowledge and community enhancement. I started a couple of months before that move from next door. Before me came many other librarians who are still remembered fondly by the patrons I see now. My love of this "baby" library (as it has been called hundreds of times) and the wonderful people of the area and surroundings have enriched my life in so many ways.

In the late '80s, the library was still part of the city hall building; court was upstairs, the post office was on Gray Street and Ernie's Drug Store still existed, putting prescriptions on peoples' tabs and delivering food to those in need. The Edgewater Library had books for all, some magazines, book and cassette kits for children and the catalogue on microfiche. Presently, we are proud to have two internet computers, DVDs, videos, audio books, CDs and of course many, many books. And if we don't have it here, it is just clicks away.

Some of the children that first came to use the library have since brought their own children in for me to meet. I am very attached to a great number of library users and my staff. Being able to see the impact of what we can provide and having the luxury of getting to know people is a huge benefit.

Once when I was reading a story to small group of kids in December, our HVAC crew was up checking the unit on the roof. Wide-eyed, they all looked up and asked, "Is it Santa?"

Another young girl (who was brought to the library all her life) was talking to me in the children's room. She pointed to a stack of new books which are marked with a green quarter-inch dot on the spine. She said, "Those dots are wintergreen flavor." I asked her how she knew. "Oh," she said, "I always eat them off when we get them home".

An octogenarian who donated a book or two a month for the library had her grandson carefully saw the books in half and rubber-band them. It made them light enough for her to read them.

As I try and recall stories and events, what I keep recalling are the people, which is the reason I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to you all.

"Libraries have always been home to me. They have seemed not inhibiting, not scary, but veritable lighthouses of Utopian order and generosity amid the cutter and ignorance and selfishness of so much of the life that is lived in this world." -Robert Hughes


About the Jefferson County Public Library
Jefferson County Public Library (JCPL) works to enrich the quality of life for all people in the county by providing resources for information, education and recreation. JCPL is the second largest library in the State of Colorado and in the Rocky Mountain region. More than 395,000 Jefferson County residents are library card holders. A JCPL library card is the key to a network of 10 libraries and a Bookmobile offering books, periodicals, CDs and DVDs, as well as computer and Internet resources. For more information contact the Jefferson County Public Library's Public Information Office at (303) 275-2203 or visit http://jefferson.lib.co.us.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Ioanna Athanasopoulos

Lakewood , CO

Ioanna Athanasopoulos has posted 195 stories and 0 comments since joining on 4/20/2006. Ioanna Athanasopoulos 's average story rating is 5.
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