A New Chapter Begins: West Las Vegas Library Opens Its Doors to the Community
The new West Las Vegas Library officially opened on December 9. Here’s everything you need to know.
On December 9, Las Vegas began an exciting new chapter in its Historic Westside neighborhood with the grand opening of a sprawling, revitalized public library. The 41,000-square-foot property is situated on N. Martin Luther King Boulevard and is within about three miles of 14 private and public schools. It’s an upgrade from the previous West Las Vegas Library location, which had been housed in a D Street storefront since the 1970s.
According to Kelvin Watson, the Library District Executive Director, around $40 million and four years of construction went into building the “21st century library.” The new space includes a wealth of amenities (which we’ll go over shortly) and will hopefully become an important community hub for those in the area. “This library is, at its heart, a place for every generation,” Watson said of the new two-story building. “Generations to come will find inspiration within these walls,” he added.
Let’s talk about what people can expect from this engaging new space.
Amenities abound at the West Las Vegas Library
Included in the West Las Vegas Library’s new property—in addition to shelves upon shelves of books in every genre—are a recording studio, an event center for live performances, an innovation lab that includes 3D printers, a business center, a computer center, and private study rooms. There’s also a Digital Memories Preservation Lab and the Historical African American Collection, and over 60,000 volumes of content located throughout the space.
Residents are excited about the updated space
Westside residents who attended the library’s opening ceremony sang its praises and expressed excitement over the services it’ll provide the community. Ruby Duncan, a local icon who’s known for her welfare rights advocacy, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I think this will mean great education and all kinds of advocacy for the whole community.” Duncan recalled working alongside West Las Vegas moms at the library’s original location, and she noted that expanding into this gleaming new space wouldn’t have been possible without their initial dedication to the community.
Ruth Jimerson-Carter, who lives in Westside and attended the ceremony with Leon Carter Jr., said, “The old library was good, too, but this one has more — I think the kids are really going to grow a little faster. It’s beautiful, it really is. They did a good job.” Gregory Freeman, another resident, echoed Jimerson-Carter’s sentiments and said he’d be returning soon to test out the podcasting equipment in the library’s recording studio.
“What’s really amazing is that it’s all free,” Freeman told the news outlet. He added, “Kids can come in, who have a dream about maybe doing a podcast or being a DJ — they can all come here and learn how to do it for free, and then they can take that experience out into the world and build up and keep going from there.”
The branch is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information, including upcoming events and holiday closures, please click here.
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