We are thrilled to let our dedicated (and patient!) patrons know that PPL’s Burbank Branch will reopen on Tuesday, August 23, 2016.
Our Burbank Branch, which has been closed since last fall, has undergone a renovation to address ergonomic and accessibility issues and to make this small but high-use space more open and flexible. The project received a $300,000 CIP allocation from the City of Portland, and the Burbank community supported the project with gifts totaling nearly $100,000. This public/private funding partnership is always the key to the Library’s success, as the City supports our infrastructure needs while all the enhancements that make your library experience so special are made possible through private gifts. We could not have done this without the generous support of the neighbors and patrons who stepped up to support this renovation financially – thank you!
While we will officially open our doors on Aug. 23, we want to particularly invite everyone to our Burbank Branch Open House on Friday, Sept. 9 from 3-6pm. We hope you’ll join us that afternoon for some refreshments, a chance to reconnect with staff and other patrons, and plenty of fun in the new space! Keep an eye out for continuing event details on PPL’s Facebook page.
We want to particularly thank the PPL staff for their work behind the scenes: our Burbank team, who served as familiar faces for our patrons who visited the Main Library or Riverton; our team at the Main Library who not only helped welcome Burbank patrons but also helped ensure collection items got where they needed to go during the branch closure; and our maintenance crew, who did yeoman’s work on physically moving the collection as well as doing so many critical pieces to ensure the space was ready.
We want to give special recognition our fantastic team at our Riverton Branch, who – together with the Burbank staff – covered a schedule that nearly doubled the usual open hours at Riverton to accommodate a significant increase in patron demand. Now that Burbank is set to reopen, we will rebalance our Riverton hours.
The Burbank Branch holds a special place in the heart of the Deering Center neighborhood. We cannot wait to welcome you all back!
Getting ready for the Burbank Branch reopening! (Photo courtesy of Scott Simons Architects)
In this photo, taken just after the 1984 Summer Olympics, Joan Benoit Samuelson’s marathon gold medal victory is being celebrated on Congress Street.
August 5th marked the opening of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.
Maine has a fairly long line of Olympic competitors and Olympic champions, however many of us who live here don’t often think of Mainers as Summer competitors. One of the earliest Maine Olympians of note was Robert Legendre. Born in 1898 in Lewiston, Legendre competed in the 1920 Antwerp Games and the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. His sport was track and field competing in the pentathlon and long jump, winning a Bronze medal in Paris.
Robert LeGendre in 1919. Image is in the Public Domain.
The 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles was a great year for Maine champions. Bill Swift of Portland played for the US baseball team who won Silver that year. Bill went on to have a storied career in baseball playing for the Seattle Mariners, the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies as pitcher. Joan Benoit Samuelson of Cape Elizabeth won Gold in the Women’s Marathon that year. She went on to write two books on running, Running Tide and Joan Samuelson’s Running for Women, both of which are in Portland Public Library’s collection. Joan is also the founder of the Beach to Beacon, an elite 10 kilometer road race which starts at Crescent Beach State Park and ends at the Portland Headlight in Fort Williams Park.
That same year, Jeff Turner of Bangor competed that year with the US Basketball team, bringing home Gold for the country. Turner was a power forward and center, playing professionally for the New Jersey Nets and the Orlando Magic after the Games completed.
More recently, Mainers have been competing in the Summer Games in more aquatic competitions. In Crocker of Portland started his championship career at the 2000 Summer games in Sydney, winning Gold with his teammates in the 400 meter medley. Crocker competed in the 2004 Athens games winning a Bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle relay, a Silver in the 100 meter butterfly and another Gold as part the 400 meter medley relay team, which broke world records that Summer. Crocker returned to the Olympic pools in 2008 and won Gold again with the 400 meter medley relay.
Anna Goodale of Camden competed in the 2008 Games with the US Women’s Rowing team. She sat alongside Elle Logan of Portland winning the Gold in the women’s 8. Logan returned to Olympic waters in the 2012 London Games, winning Gold again sans Goodale. Elle Logan is looking for Gold again in this year’s Games.
For more information on this Summer’s schedule and when to watch for Logan, click here.
As part of the planned renovation of the facility that houses both our Peaks Island branch and the attached community room, we at Portland Public Library (PPL) were delighted to work with the Peaks Environmental Action Team (PEAT) and Holbrook Engineering to develop an Energy Model for the building.
Holbrook Engineering developed an energy model which can now be used to inform the final selection of building envelope choices (walls, windows, floors, ceilings, insulation) as well as choices of mechanical equipment (heating, cooling, ventilation), and lighting choices.
Peaks Island-based artist Marty Braun worked with the Library to develop a poster illustrating the decision factors that were brought forward in the energy model. The poster is now hanging in the lobby of the Peaks Island community center and appears below. A larger copy of the poster can be downloaded here.
As part of the PPL/PEAT collaboration, an energy monitor has been purchased that shows show real-time electrical use of the facility. Installation of this monitor is nearly complete in a temporary location, pending re-installation in a permanent location after renovations are complete. There will ultimately be a small display that will illustrate the components of the building envelope, and we look forward to working with PEAT to develop educational programming related to this Energy Model and the energy efficiencies that become part of the renovation.
As we enter the phase of the project where we can begin to formalize renovation plans and make choices around energy use improvements, the Library/City Planning Committee looks forward to using this data to make the informed decisions for the renovation.
