CENTRAL LIBRARY
Central Library Project News
Interim Central Library Closes for Move to New Central Library
September 6, 2007
The Interim Central Library, 202 N. Alabama Street, closed its doors to the public at 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 8 in preparation for moving materials and staff into the transformed Central Library at 40 E. St. Clair Street.
It will take approximately six weeks to move the Interim Central Library’s estimated 700,000 volumes of materials into the new facility. Following that, staff orientation and training along with final building preparation will be necessary before Central Library opens to the public.
During the move of materials to the new Central Library, circulating materials that had been housed at the Interim Central Library will be unavailable. Once the move is completed, those materials will be available by request for delivery to and pick up at any other Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library location. Reference materials will not be available until Central Library opens. A drop box for returning materials will be located outside the main entrance of the Interim Central Library until October 31. Materials can also be returned to any IMCPL location.
Patrons are encouraged to visit other IMCPL branches to have their reference questions and other library needs addressed.
Central Library will celebrate its grand reopening by the end of 2007.
A Classic Statuary Returns to Its Library Home
August 9, 2007
When the Library opens in late 2007, visitors to the new Central Library will be majestically greeted by three allegorical figures as part of a classic bronze statue personifying the major areas of human endeavor.
The statue, created by German-American sculptor Richard Bock in 1892, has been placed atop the 9th Street entrance of the new six-story addition of the transformed Central Library. Originally, the statue was part of the old Indianapolis Public Library building, which sat on the southwest corner of Ohio and Meridian Streets from 1892 until the building was demolished in 1967.
20th Century Authors Inscribed in Central Library Limestone
June 28, 2007
When the transformed Central Library opens in late 2007, patrons will see the names of seven of the 20th century's greatest literary figures added to those from earlier ages already engraved in the stonework of the historic Cret building.
Based on the recommendations of contemporary authors, such as John Irving and Norman Mailer, who have presented the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library's annual McFadden Memorial Lecture, the latest inscriptions have been carved above the windows of the Cret building as viewed from the four-story atrium that connects the 1917 structure with the Library's new six-story addition.
Children Invited to Color Their Way to a Special Opening Day at the New Central Library!
June 18, 2007
One lucky child will be chosen to help "unlock the doors" when the transformed Central Library opens in late 2007 from participation in the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library’s "Central Library Grand Opening Coloring Contest."
Children ages 6 - 12 are invited to visit any IMCPL branch or bookmobile to pick up an entry form and contest coloring sheet featuring Booker, the Library’s mascot. Coloring sheets also can be accessed on the 2007 Summer Reading Program page of the Library’s website.
