The Bartholomew County Public Library system is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library building this year.
Located at 536 Fifth St., the 58,000-square-foot structure replaced a smaller library building constructed in 1903.
As part of the celebration, the library is asking residents to share their memories or other stories of the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library building for a video recording.
That’s a list that could go on for a quite a while.
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Consider the central role the library building, as part of the library system, plays in the community.
Foremost, it helps fosters literacy. It’s a place where residents have free access to thousands of books, magazines and other publications. That’s a wealth of information that’s easily accessible. For many families, it’s a ritual for parents to take their children to the library building to pick out books to take home to read.
The library also is a place where residents can use their card to check out music and videos for free.
Another important function of the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library building is serving as a community venue. Its Red Room is a popular setting for public events. It’s been used to host political forums, as the setting for law enforcement reports to the community, a location for events hosted by community groups and as a site to host lectures and guest speakers.
The children’s and teen areas of the library regularly host programs and events for youths and their parents to enjoy, such as story times for younger kids and role-playing games for those a bit older.
Serving as an entertainment venue is another role of the library, such as showing movies there from time to time, and when one also considers its adjoining plaza. The plaza is a site for live music and other events throughout the year. Live on the Plaza with the musical acts it attracts is one example.
The Cleo Rogers Memorial Library building, designed by the world-renowned architect I.M. Pei, also is a key stop on the city’s architectural tour. It’s been seen by thousands of people over the years who want to see an example of Pei’s work and one of the many examples of Modern architecture the city has.
And, the library building has even had a prominent role in a movie, the film "Columbus," which highlighted the city’s architecture in the story.
The library building has been a central part of the community for a half-century, giving residents many reasons to be able to share good memories about it.
We hope it will have such an important role for many more years.
