BALTIMORE — There’s been an uptick in violence in the Park Heights community, but neighbors are doing their best to steer children away from the streets by giving them positive outlets, starting with a library.
This will be the first library Park Heights has seen in about 15 years and community leaders hope this will help protect the next generation.
The library will be on the corner of Park Heights and Woodland Avenue. It’ll feature education resources, recreational activities, and career information for adults.
"It's a lot of things I’ve seen them bring into the area, but library is one I haven't seen so it's a blessing. Anything that's gonna help the kids is a blessing," said Ronnie, Park Heights resident.
Organizers say this is long overdue and they hope the library will become a community center for Park Heights.
"People can expect a state of the art library, I really am excited, over the last two and a half years to partner with Enoch Pratt, to really make sure that this comes to fruition. We're looking forward to the library being a focal point and our community," said Yolanda Jiggetts, CEO of Park Heights Renaissance.
"We are imagining a large teen space that would have some privacy, but also visible where you could do a lot of not just gaming but creation of gaming, painting, studying after school. It would basically be like a great hangout space so that kids and teens would have a space of their own. It will flow through an adult area that would have resources for adult connection, and community living room area where folks can just sit in and connect with one another," said Heidi Daniel, President and CEO of Enoch Pratt Free Library,
WMAR 2-News is waiting to confirm a completion date, but before construction begins organizers will ask for community feedback.
