Paul Bass Photo
Luna and Ronja Maritschnegg-Ramirez got new library cards and the New Haven Free Public LIbrary got a new look and vocabulary as it began marching into its 126th year.
The occasion was a kickoff event Monday afternoon on the steps of the main library branch on Elm Street.
The library system is celebrating its 125th birthday all year. As part of the effort, it unveiled new “125 + Beyond” banners designed by the local Group C shop to coincide with a newly articulated vision for the institution: “unleashing potential — creating community.”
And City Librarian Christopher Korenowsky announced a new policy: borrowers can take out 30 books at a time for three weeks with up to three renewals. Until now the limit was two weeks with two renewals.
And those borrowers? The library system will henceforth call them “customers.”
“The goal of our organization is exception customer service each of every day, all day,” Korenowsky declared.
Then staffers handed out library cards to young people like the Maritschnegg-Ramirez girls (pictured at the top of the story) amassed on the library’s marble steps.
Holly Crawford of the New Haven Free Public Library Foundation made a pitch for a final $25,000 in donations to get a new Readmobile on the road. The old one has been running for 11 years; it now spends more time off the road being repaired, she said. Click here for info on donating.
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Marguiles praised libraries for “exposing” people “to ideas out of your living.”
Click here for an earlier story about the birthday, coinciding with the library’s Mardi Gras celebration. And click here for more info on birthday year events.
