Downtown Tacoma event raises awareness about need for Hilltop library

Members of the Hilltop Library Planning Committee took over the downtown branch of the Tacoma Public Library Saturday to raise awareness about their efforts to see a library returned to Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood.

The two-hour event was driven by the question, “What more would be possible for families if a Hilltop library existed?” The goal: To bring all ages to the library to show its value to the community.

Upstairs, children ran around bookshelves, participated in arts and crafts and waited to get their faces painted.

A short distance away, storyteller and educator Kimi Irene Ginn engaged children with story songs about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, followed by a second story about the importance of working together.

Ginn, who has been a storyteller for 35 years, was happy to be part of Saturday’s lineup.

“The importance of literacy is empowering people to be self-sufficient,” she said.

That’s why it’s important to have easily accessible libraries in communities, Ginn said.

The Hilltop neighborhood hasn’t had a library since the Martin Luther King Jr. library closed at South 19th and Cedar streets in 2011. It was the closest branch to the Hilltop community.

Now people must come to the downtown Tacoma branch if they want to access library services.

That can be problematic for families with limited transportation or for children whose parents worry about them being downtown by themselves, said Alvin Nurse, co-chairman of the library planning committee.

Community leaders have worked for three years to return a library, or library services, to the community.

“We feel a library is a cornerstone in a successful community,” Nurse said. “A library in Hilltop would be an anchor in the community.”

Charmaine Boulanger brought her 2-year-old grandson to the event Saturday.

“There are lots of kids that live there and could stand to use the library’s resources,” said Boulanger, who is an education board member of the NAACP.

Boulanger lives in Fircrest but has three grandchildren living in the Hilltop area. A library within walking distance for families is important for the health of a community, she said.

Other programs offered Saturday included guest speakers, interactive poetry and interactive animation sessions for kids.

“This is an open house to see what actually happens at a library,” Nurse said. “We’re serving every member of the family; we’re serving everybody in the community.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Downtown Tacoma event raises awareness about need for Hilltop library."