A new $17 million public library on the west side of Lexington will open Saturday. The Marksbury Family Branch is named for the foundation that provided the lead, 500-thousand dollar gift. The two-story library is about three times the size of the Village Branch it replaces. Kate Baughman is the marketing manager for the Lexington Public Library.
“This library, in particular, serves its community, like a community center, it's a really great location. It's really walkable, a lot of folks coming into that neighborhood get there by foot; by foot traffic is a huge source of traffic for us.”
Baughman said the Marksbury Family Branch will have a Makerspace, sticker makers, large format printers and workforce training opportunities using virtual reality. It’s near the former Village Branch, where there’s a large immigrant population. Baughman said they had that clientele in mind when they stocked the new branch.
“They'll have a bigger Spanish collection. We also have a lot of staff at the library are bilingual. And so at that branch, we see a lot of English speakers, a lot of Spanish speakers, but also a lot of French and Kiswahili speakers.”
Baughman said in addition to the gift from the Marksbury Family Foundation, about 300 other local people and groups donated about $5 million for the building, programs and staff.
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