The new library includes capacity for 80,000 books, a dedicated Children’s Story Room for storytelling and other children’s activities, 40 computers with free Wi-Fi Internet access, a 100-person community room adjacent to a new outdoor patio, two 12-person conference room and four quiet study rooms.
The library was designed by award-winning architecture team Adjaye & Associates the designers of the National Museum of African American History and Culture currently under construction on the National Mall.
Pastor Christine Wiley of Covenant BUCC addressed the gathered residents, politicians and youth during the ribbon cutting ceremony. Covenant leaders are now organizing with WIN to build 30 units of affordable senior housing and a Senior Wellness Center three blocks from the library.
Lockridge/Bellevue Library Ribbon Cutting – June 2012
In June, Twenty WIN leaders from Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ turned out to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the new William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Neighborhood Library. The ribbon cutting was the culmination of a multi-year WIN campaign to rebuild a library in the Bellevue neighborhood. The campaign grew out of a 2008 house meeting at Covenant BUCC where 75+ WIN leaders demanded that the city rebuild the decrepit Washington Highlands Library.