Two authors whose writings have powerfully influenced young people are the latest recipients of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library’s esteemed “Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Award for Literature.”

The national award, created as a tribute to the city’s own legendary literary son, celebrates those whose works uniquely document and define the human condition.

Authors Richard Peck and Louis Sachar were presented the award by Nanny Prior and Edie Vonnegut, the late author’s daughters, during the Central Library Opening Gala on October 13 sponsored by the IMCPL Foundation. The authors were past speakers at the Library Foundation’s McFadden Lecture Series.

The inaugural award, a custom-designed metal sculpture with Vonnegut’s famous self-portrait and created locally by Aerofab, was presented to its namesake posthumously at this year’s McFadden Lecture on April 27. Peck is the author of over 30 books for young adults, including the 2001 Newbery Award-winning, A Year Down Yonder. With wit, compassion and unforgettable characters, Peck’s stories invited young people to think for themselves.

Sachar has written 21 educational and fiction books for children. His book, Holes, won the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal, and was the basis for the popular movie by the same name.

The Vonnegut Award will be presented each year to an important national or international literary figure who presents the McFadden Lecture to commemorate Kurt Vonnegut’s enduring impact on contemporary literature.

This year’s award presentations come during the community wide celebration of “The Year of Kurt Vonnegut,” coordinated by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, the Cultural Development Commission and other community organizations.

A brief public ceremony, followed by an afternoon of special activities for all ages, will highlight the Grand Opening of the newly-transformed Central Library on Sunday, December 9 from 1 – 5 p.m.

The children of Indianapolis will be represented by 11-year-old Carmen Hu, a Lawrence Branch patron and 6th grade student at Fall Creek Valley school, who will join Library and civic officials at 1 p.m. at the south entrance of the historic Cret Building to unlock Central Library’s Penny Gates.  This honors the efforts of Indianapolis school children in 1917 who collected pennies to purchase the gates in honor of their beloved Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley. Carmen was selected as the winner of the Central Library Grand Opening Coloring Contest for children during the summer.

Citizens will then be invited to gather in the Library’s new Atrium as trumpeters lead the procession of officials on-stage for a special dedication ceremony. Presentations by representatives of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the Office of the Mayor will be followed by local author Mari Evans reading her specially-written poem for Central Library, “Paean for a New Library.”

Following the dedication, citizens will get their first look at such features as the high-tech Learning Curve for children and families, the Nina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room, the beautifully-restored Simon Reading Room in the Cret Building, the expansive Computer Training Lab, and a collection of over 700,000 books and audio-visual materials. Library staff will be available to help guide patrons throughout the new 293-thousand-square-foot facility, or patrons may tour on their own along one of three “Discovery Paths.” Tour brochures will be available at each of the Library’s entrances.

A variety of entertainment will occur throughout the afternoon. The Circle City Sidewalk Stompers will greet patrons outside the Cret Building prior to opening ceremonies. Actors, many courtesy of Young Audiences of Indiana, depicting such historic and literary characters as Kin Hubbard, Gene Stratton-Porter, Harriet Tubman, Thomas Edison, James Whitcomb Riley, Mary Todd Lincoln, Charles Dickens and various Civil War characters, will interact with patrons throughout the facility.

Grand Opening Day also will feature musical ambience with performances by the “Wild Mercy” Celtic Band, pianist Darrin Vincent, and sections of the Indianapolis Symphonic Band.

Children and families will enjoy demonstrations in the Learning Curve, the 18,000-square-foot innovative learning environment designed to help young people become intelligent users of information, both real and virtual, that are pilot-tested and evaluated. Fun activities will occur in the Learning Curve’s Baby Zone, Story Theater, Group Cove, Information Vortex, Tech Lab, and Arena.

Children also will be entertained by George Flexman’s balloon characters and Charles Dickens’ magic tricks.

Commemorative items will be available for purchase at Secondhand Prose @ Central Library, located in the Atrium close to the Circulation Desk.

Central Library’s unique services and collections will be showcased with demonstrations in the Computer Training Lab, the Language Learning Lab, the Assistive Technologies Room, and the Nina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room.

Not to be overlooked is that Central Library’s collection will be available for browsing and checkout. New patrons will be encouraged to fill out applications to receive an IMCPL library card.

In addition to the south entrance of the Cret Building, access to Central Library can be achieved through the 9th Street entrance on the facility’s north side, or from the new underground parking garage, located on Pennsylvania Street, immediately south of 9th Street.

Parking in Central Library’s garage will be free on Grand Opening Day. Free parking also will be available in the Safeco Insurance parking garage on the corner of Illinois and North Streets. Free shuttle service from that intersection will transport visitors directly to Central Library. Shuttles will also pick up patrons leaving Central Library at the 9th Street entrance to return them to the Safeco garage.

Upon leaving, all patrons will be given complimentary gift bags that include various library promotional and informational materials.

Preparing young people for the information challenges of the 21^st century is the mission of an 18,000-square-foot high-tech learning environment within the newly-transformed Central Library.

The Learning Curve for children of all ages and families not only will emphasize the importance of reading as part of lifelong learning, but will help them become intelligent users of information with activities, both real and virtual, that are pilot-tested and evaluated.
Skilled activity guides will work with young patrons in age-specific areas from babies through teens. Surrounded by thousands of books and magazines, children will learn about computers, gaming software, robotics, and various multi-media tools. Children will be invited to check out laptop computers with their IMCPL library cards to use while visiting the Learning Curve. Children living outside Marion County may purchase a Public Library Access Card for an annual fee of $30 per individual.

Virtual space activities are available on demand through a product called Curveworld, which can be accessed only while a child is in the Learning Curve using a laptop computer and with a library card. This multi-layered activity will allow children to create projects, compete or socialize with other users, and go adventure exploring.

From the east end of the Learning Curve, which comprises the 2nd floor of the Library’s new North Building, parents can bring their infants and toddlers to the Baby Zone, a stimulating space where they can learn about books and objects by using their senses. This area will feature the Activity Wall, special seating and nearby family restrooms.

Children will be able to create, produce and perform in the Theatre, where their on-stage play can be projected onto two large plasma displays using green-screen technology. The Theatre also will host storytime programs and other events for young people.

Team spirit will rule in the Group Cove. Friends and family will be able to learn and play together in this area accented by the Coves, egg-shaped, semi-enclosed seating modules, direct from the future! Young patrons can check out a laptop or participate in special programs while visiting this area.

One of the Library’s signature landmarks is the Information Vortex, where children can gather around on comfortable recumbent seating to observe an array of information projected from their own laptops or other sources onto the nylon vortex-shaped screen.

Children will be able to test the latest information tools in the Tech Lab. Whether their interest is creating a digital movie or programming a robot, the tech lab will offer older children a chance to expand their horizons of technological understanding.

The west end of the Learning Curve is devoted to teen activity. Research Central will allow young people to find everything from reference books to computer databases to assist in their research projects.

The Arena is a space where teens can participate in their own forums, media workshops, or high-tech tutorials.Also for teens will be the Think Tank, an enclosed room where they can do homework and express ideas on wipe-off walls.

On the floor throughout the Learning Curve, visitors will find unique glass-enclosed portals that exhibit pieces of past technology, such as a typewriter, film camera, and even a library’s paper card catalog. Each area is introduced by colorful Info Posts that feature inspirational quotes from great literary and cultural figures.

The Learning Curve was funded by the generous gifts of the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, Inc., the Lilly Endowment, the CICF Indianapolis Foundation, and the Rotary Foundation of Indianapolis.

To learn more about the Learning Curve or other services at the new Central Library, visit http://www.imcpl.org.

In the Internet age, with access to information a few keystrokes away, experts maintain that microfilm is still the best method for long term storage of information. Microfilm remains the national standard medium of archival preservation.       

With over 30,000 reels of microfilm, the new Central Library has an extensive collection of microfilmed newspapers, magazines, government documents and books available. Microfilm allows the Library to offer large amounts of information in a compact space. The collection includes such items as the complete editions of Indianapolis News, New York Times and Indianapolis Times. The microfilm version of newspapers permits finding items not usually available through online versions, such as classified ads and paid death notices. The Wall Street Journal helps investors know the value of their stocks or find out what gold sold for on a particular day.     

The microfilm collection offers the opportunity to read history as it unfolded. In the Indianapolis Recorder you may read of Martin Luther King’s 1958 visit to
Indianapolis. The New York Times coverage of 9/11 is a vivid reminder of the tragedy. Indianapolis as a small town in the 1820’s is covered in the Indianapolis Journal. Magazines provide a window to daily life, with their ads illustrating how life was lived.  Microfilmed books offer the chance to use items no longer in print or too fragile for everyday use. City directories of the 1850’s and Sanborn fire insurance maps are examples of microfilmed books that are very popular with researchers. Business researchers and investors may use Moody’s Manuals to trace a company history.

       These are just a few examples of how the library’s microfilm collection may be used. Central Library has reader printers that can read 16mm film, 35mm film and microfiche. All microfilm may be copied at 15 cents per copy.

The first real activity in serving patrons from the new Central Library is taking place, as 12,719 books and audio-visual materials are heading to other Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library branch locations to fulfill patron requests.

Although Central Library doesn’t open its doors to the public until Sunday, December 9, library staffers have begun locating, packing and delivering materials from Central’s vast collection of over 700,000 items to neighborhood branches for patrons to pick up. These materials had been unavailable for circulation during the move from the Interim Central Library to the new facility downtown.

Now that the collection is ready to circulate, Central Library staff and those from other branches have worked non-stop to process over 600 pages of requests. Patrons who placed items from Central Library on hold receive email notices that their items are ready for pick-up at their designated local branches.

Meanwhile, work continues in preparation for Central Library’s Grand Opening. Installation of technology and furnishings must still be accomplished, along with interior finishing and staff training.

For more on Central Library services, visit www.imcpl.org.

What has proven to be a popular library activity in the past is being added to the variety of interactive and educational offerings at the new Central Library.

As a result of the highly successful I-Robot workshops at IMCPL branches this past summer, the world of robotics now has a permanent home in the Tech Lab at Central Library’s Learning Curve for children and teens.

It’s there that young patrons can be introduced to Lego Mindstorms. The Lego Mindstorms program provides participants with the skills needed to write and upload robot commands. In each technology-rich program, participants can learn about robot sensors, motor capabilities and special program/command combinations. Children will practice innovative thinking by working together to solve problems.

Once children try a Lego Mindstorms activity, one will never be enough. This permanent program in the Learning Curve will be available during regular Central Library hours to help children develop a unique understanding of technology through various skill levels.

Interactive Evironment Is Part of the Learning Curve for Children and Teens at the New Central Library

Enter CurveWorld and you find yourself in an interactive computer game that has been developed exclusively for IMCPL to complement the books, media and Real Life” activities at the Learning Curve. Children and teens (ages 6 – 18) visiting the Learning Curve will find a fun, individually-paced and self-directed virtual environment where they can’t help but expand their knowledge base and develop information literacy skills. In this whimsical universe, players participate in activities developed by Learning Curve staff, learn to use software applications, and communicate with each other in a safe social-networking forum.

Blast off!
The journey starts when a player checks out a laptop, logs into Curveworld, views an internet safety tutorial and establishes a Curveworld identity – represented by a Transporter. Then, the Curvonaut” flies off into Curveworld space in the newly-selected Transporter, which could be anything from a bunch of flowers to a brain and can be customized. (Think flying cupcake with a whirling propeller!) As they travel through Curveworld, players will encounter dozens of unique activity destinations called Orbs, game elements including Space Junk hazards, and other CurveWorld friends.

Rewards!
Activities in CurveWorld, just like Real Life” activities in the Learning Curve, are based on a set of literacy standards and developed to insure that a range of abilities, experiences, interests and learning styles are addressed. Players measure their progress in CurveWorld with points (called Curve Coins) earned for completing activities in Curve World, and for Real Life” activities in the Learning Curve. Curve Coins can be used to purchase” items such as pets, new boosters for transporters and gadgets at Trader Moe’s general store. Curvonauts gain expertise with software applications and information sources as they explore. Certain, more advanced, activities are rewarded with Key Codes.” Once all key codes are earned, the player qualifies for entry into the Media Workshop in the Learning Curve.

Community!
Curveworld is a community with engaging features that encourage sharing ideas, opinions and information. Creations from completed activities are showcased in galleries. Players communicate by posting messages in their Guestbook and chatting as they fly through the game play space. They can contribute news items to the Curve Wire, make news themselves with their CurveWorld achievements, and respond to questions in polls. Curvonauts can even change the landscapes for Orbs.

Because research in education and cognitive science shows that computer gaming promotes learning and cognitive development, and since children today are digital natives” who are comfortable going back and forth between real” and virtual” worlds, this digital component is an essential part of the Learning Curve experience. CurveWorld makes it all fun!

The newly-transformed Central Library will provide a variety of patron services in an expansive gathering place that connects the new six-story addition with the renovated 1917 Cret Building.

When Central Library opens to the public on Sunday, December 9, the 7,000-square-foot, glass-walled Atrium will serve as the hub of the Central Library complex. Graced by curved steel arches, the Atrium will house the Library’s information and circulation desks, along with an exhibition area, café, comfortable seating and four self-check stations.

From the Atrium, one can see the escalators carrying patrons to the upper floors of the addition. Above the windows of the Cret Building are names of 20th century authors added to the distinguished list of earlier authors engraved in the limestone around both the interior and exterior of the building. 

An open holds shelving area will be readily accessible for patrons to pick up books and materials placed on reserve. Two messaging stations will display announcements on a monitor to let patrons know of upcoming Library programs and to learn about the collections on each floor of the new addition.
At the information desk, staff will assist patrons accessing the building from the underground parking garage, the Cret Building or the Garden level with their information needs. The Atrium also will provide a copy machine, change machine, pay machine for the parking garage, and 12 computer terminals that provide quick access to the Library’s collection.

On each side of the Atrium, beautiful marble stairways will lead patrons to the East and West Reading Rooms that house the fiction collection. The marble for these stairs was salvaged from the stacks of the original 1917 building and then resurfaced. The effect provides a stylish counterpoint to the Cret Building’s limestone.

The East and West Reading Rooms also can be accessed via elevators.

On nice weather days, patrons in the Atrium may wish to take their books and beverages outdoors to sit on the East Terrace, overlooking the East Garden which features shade trees, reading nooks and an oval lawn.

As with other areas of the new Central Library, the Atrium will be available for individuals or organizations to rent for private functions.

Central Library’s Atrium is one of the first structures in the United States to have a glazed horizontal cable net wall system that results in an almost transparent view from the building. The Atrium’s glass panels are attached to the horizontal cables that are weighted at the ends using levers and counterweights. The cables are attached to support beams within the walls of the new addition and a vertical truss structure on the north ends of the Cret Building. The cable net walls rely on the movement of the levers and counterweights to effectively lengthen the cables in order to accommodate lateral wind loads. The system is designed to sustain a wind force of up to 180 miles per hour. 

For more information on Central Library programs and services, visit www.imcpl.org.

Visitors to the transformed Central Library will find more than just an abundance of books and audio-visual materials on the many floors of the new building. They also can enjoy a multitude of exhibit and display spaces featuring everything from local and contemporary art to traveling museum collections and unique memorabilia.

In addition to the historic display cases housed in the original Cret Building, Central’s new floors will be home to an assortment of materials from local and regional artists, craftsmen and collectors, along with unique materials from the Library’s own collection.

One of the first pieces of public art has been mounted on the walls of the upper level lobby of the new parking garage. Artist Arlon Bayliss has used dichroic glass to produce exciting qualities of light and color. Light bounces off the angled glass transmitting one color while reflecting another. A poem written by Indiana’s poet laureate Joyce Brinkman appears in the colored light and encourages readers to think of the importance of words and writing and how they illuminate our lives.

Throughout the year, Central Library will play host to several national traveling exhibits. A unique series of Library programs at Central will highlight these exhibits and showcase complimentary areas of the collection. Patrons will also be invited to view rotating art exhibits in the Cret Building’s South Display Hall.

Patrons are encouraged to stop by the new Central Library throughout the year to experience these free and unique exhibits and displays!

The moving of books into the new facility has been completed, slightly ahead of schedule. Within the six-story addition, completion of interior finishes continues on the first floor. Throughout levels two through six, as well as within the Cret building, contractors continue to complete their punch list work. Final cleaning work continues within the Cret building and the new addition. The escalators have been inspected and turned over for Library use, and the contractor is now commissioning the elevators prior to requesting their inspections. While the Auditorium is not expected to be ready for the December 9th public Grand Opening, progress continues with the contractor installing the roofing system allowing for interior finishes to begin. Also relating to the auditorium, the contractor began installing exterior metal studs and sheathing in preparation for installing the stainless steel rain screen panels. Regarding site work, installations of bluestone shards, plaza areas and perimeter decorative fencing at the East Garden are nearly completed. Within the parking garage, artists for both the upper and lower elevator lobbies continue with their installations. Additionally, sub-structure work continues in preparation for the pedestal artwork on the south side of the Cret building.

Work continues on the last of the repair designs on the garage concrete structure. Repairs are being performed as directed, in accordance with the issued directives and project schedule. General cleanup within the garage continued in preparation for applying the traffic coatings scheduled to begin soon. The thermal spray on insulation installation continued. Contractors progressed with the re-installation of the previously-removed components made necessary for performing repairs.