The Rosedale library at 1701 Gales St NE, built in 2010 after grassroots community efforts to establish a neighborhood library, is only 5,000 square foot. A DL Masters and Facilities Plan released in 2020 calls for a full service library to serve the Rosedale community. A typical full-service library has about 20,000 square feet, said DL Executive Director (ED) Richard Reyes-Gavilan. The project is planned to start in 2028.
At a preliminary meeting on the renovation held Jan. 30 of this year, Reyes-Gavillan had suggested that the library might be rebuilt at a different site. Currently, the library is co-located with the Rosedale Recreation Center, a 21,000 square foot building. Both are on District-controlled property operated by DPR and maintained by the Department of General Services (DGS).
But at that January meeting neighbors told the DL ED loud and clear: they do not want the library to be relocated. The library was founded by community and built after the neighborhood mobilized to get it funded in 2010. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) Marc Friend (7D06)says the recreation center and library are a central asset to the Rosedale neighborhood. The community would like to see a redesign of the whole campus, he said, both the library and the recreation center.
DPR is preparing to undertake a Rosedale Outdoor Pool Renovation as well, anticipated to begin after pool season 2025. But DPR project funding is only for the pool, not for the adjacent buildings, which include the recreation center and library. Sisco said that funding in the budget is spelled out in such a way that the nearly $7 million budget for that project must strictly be spent on the outdoor pool facility, a project slated to conclude before work on the library begins.
The meeting zoom log-in is below. Friend is streaming the meeting as a public service, but the commissioner says for optimal participation, you should come in person to the Recreation Center.
https://dc-gov.zoom.us/j/89141184594?pwd=AYVzNZHnJY4rRZakM6WWFxOZhHr5sx.1
Meeting ID: 891 4118 4594 code: Library
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