With renovations finally complete, the Rossville Public Library opened the doors to its upgraded facility Tuesday, May 2. But the real celebration will take place later this week.
On Sunday, May 7, the library is hosting its grand opening ceremony to welcome the community to its new home.
The festivities will honor community members whose donations made the eight-month project possible, and showcase the newest features in the redesigned space.
Among those new features are 15 old photographs of Chickamauga and McFarland avenues dating back to the early 1900s.
This file photo shows Rossville Public Library's new interior beginning to take shape during the construction process. The library reopened May 2. (Contributed photo)
The recently uncovered photos have been matted and framed, and are prominently
displayed within the library.
"I think people in the community will come in and enjoy and appreciate seeing some of the old Rossville from the old days," said Lecia Eubanks, director of the Cherokee Regional Library System.
Library officials will also unveil a new sculpture during the ceremony. Though details on the statue remain a surprise for now, once revealed, it will be named through a competition among local schools.
Other new features awaiting visitors include a teen center with computers and casual seating, three private rooms that can be reserved for study or meetings by library card holders, and a variety of new technology, including a mobile Chromebook lab.
Eubanks said the renovation project would not have been possible without the $70,000 donated by community members, which supplemented the $320,000 already contributed by the state.
"That really was the difference in making this project happen," she said.
That generosity will be permanently displayed through sections of the library named after donors' loved ones in memorandum, as well as a legacy tree with the names of benefactors' loved or lost engraved onto leaves or apples. Eubanks said the names show the history of Rossville, with many belonging to those instrumental in molding the city or erecting the original library building.
"It's so nice to be able to have those names recognized and up throughout the library," she said.
The library also received about $20,000 worth of donated service, Eubanks added. The Walker County Chamber of Commerce and the local garden club, for example, donated a day of service to plant shrubs and trees and take care of other landscaping needs for the library.
With the Thrive 2055 growth study and other local entities working to revitalize Rossville and the surrounding areas, Eubanks said the library's renovation has come at the perfect time.
"I think we're going to be a catalyst for renovating and revitalizing and sprucing up Rossville in general," she said. "We'd like to be something of a kick-start for the community to be new and improved and blaze the trail, so to speak."