Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library

Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library
Country United States
Type Public library
Established 1990
Location 7420 Georgia Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20012
Branch of District of Columbia Public Library
Website dclibrary.org/thornton

Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It was opened to the public on July 29, 1990. The library was named in honor of Juanita E. Thornton (December 25, 1912 – September 14, 1990), a teacher and community activist.

History

Before 1990 neighbors living around Shepherd Park in Washington D.C. did not have a library, and they had to walk almost two miles from District of Columbia to Takoma to use library at Takoma, Washington, D.C.. In 1985, an apartment building was razed, and a Wendy's restaurant was scheduled to be constructed. Next day at 6:45 Juanita E. Thornton, a former teacher of DC Schools Public System spoke with Hardy Franklin, at that time Director of the Department of DC Public Libraries and told him: "We have beef, bread, booze and beer", "We need another B—books", It "would provide good mental health. It is necessary for the growth of our cities, harmony among the races, justice and peace". The slogan for the construction of the new library was "Books no Burger". In 1988 the area belongs to District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) and it opens on July 29, 1990 with a collection of 200,000 books, tapes, records, CDs and magazines.[1] The inversion in its construction was 3.3 $ millions and it was designed by Bryant & Bryant firm.

Juanita E. Thornton died one month after the library opened, in October 1992, and afterwards the library was named in her honor.[2]

Winnell Montague, a librarian with 20 years of experience was the first librarian.

2015-2016 Makeover

Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library will have a makeover from autum 2015 to Spring 2016.[3] It will close operations on Saturday 8 2015 at 5:30 pm. Holds will be routed there while the Shepherd Park Library is closed. The budget for the refresh is 1,100,000 $.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Library History at DC Library
  2. ↑ Juanita Thornton at Women of Library History
  3. ↑ http://dclibrary.org/node/50679
  4. ↑ http://dclibrary.org/node/50503
  • "Books Win Over Burgers" by Claudia Sandlin (The Washington Post, Thursday, October 20, 1988)
  • "Library to Open in Northwest: Neighbors Win ‘Books Not Burgers’ in Fight Against Planned Eatery" by Margaret Camp (The Washington Post, Thursday, July 26, 1990)
  • "Books Not Burgers —The Shepherd Park Branch Library Is Renamed for Community Activist Juanita E. Thornton" (DC Public Library press release, October 20, 1992)
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