Downtown library schedules grand opening

The Park Central Branch Library is in the Kresge building in the southwest corner of Park Central Square. Its grand opening will be held 5–10 p.m. April 4, during First Friday Art Walk.

At 3,100 square feet, the arts- and media-themed library will feature a small collection of popular fiction and nonfiction books, a wide selection of newspapers and magazines, and DVDs and CDs, according to a news release. It also will have more than a dozen computer stations, flat-screen TVs, a self-checkout machine, gallery walls, reading cubes, ottomans and lounge chairs, and an interior doorway to The Coffee Ethic, an adjacent coffee shop.

“All of the décor, furnishings, collections and services were selected to capture the cultural and recreational rhythms of downtown and provide a vibrant and inviting library for the people who live, work, play and visit the urban area,” library district Executive Director Annie Busch said in the release.

Most of the interior work was funded by a $250,000 grant from the C.W. Titus Foundation, according to the release.

This will be Springfield-Greene County Library District’s ninth facility. Initial hours will be 7 a.m.–8 p.m. Monday–Thursday and 7 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Jazy Mihalik is branch manager.