For Immediate Release

May 19, 2011

 

Contact:

Lori Crowe, Public Relations Coordinator

757-664-7328 x340; lori.crowe@norfolk.gov

 

 

Norfolk Main Library Collections and Services to Remain Accessible

During Construction of Slover Main Library

 

Norfolk, VA (May 19, 2011). Plans are now underway for Norfolk’s new Main Library. With the generous donation of $20 million dollars from Frank Batten Sr. in October 2008, the City of Norfolk is able to build a new main library complex sooner than originally planned.  In keeping with Mr. Batten’s wishes, the new library will be named in honor of his uncle, Colonel Samuel L. Slover, who was a former Norfolk Mayor, and founder of Landmark Communications.

 

On January 25, 2011, Mayor Paul Fraim announced that the Batten Foundation has generously increased the Batten gift by an additional $20 million, in the form of a “challenge grant”. Under the terms of the challenge grant, the Batten Foundation’s full match will be achieved provided that a minimum of $4 million of additional contributions and pledges are raised by the newly formed Slover Library Foundation from private entities or individuals.

 

With the combined Batten donation of $40 million, the money raised by the Slover Library Foundation, and the City of Norfolk’s previously announced $20 million contribution, it is estimated that the construction costs will be covered. Any additional funds raised, but not needed for construction, will be put into a technology endowment to help sustain technological needs and advancements for the new Library.

 

Now in the final stages of the building design and planning phase, it is anticipated that ground breaking for the Slover Main Library will begin in early 2012, and that the new library will be completed approximately 18 months later, in late fall 2013. In order to maintain a safe environment during construction for the public and library staff, the current interim main library, Norfolk Main Library, will be closed during the construction of Slover Main Library.

 

Norfolk Main Library collections will be redistributed to Norfolk’s 10 neighborhood branches, the Mary D. Pretlow Anchor Branch Library, and the Library Service Center. The Sargeant Memorial Local History and Genealogy Collection will also relocate temporarily to the Pretlow Anchor Branch Library at 111 West Ocean View Avenue.

 

While Norfolk Main Library is closed, the public will find that many of Norfolk Main Library’s services are also available at the Pretlow Anchor Branch Library. Customers will have access to books, computers, KidZone and Children’s Library, and the Sargeant Memorial Local History and Genealogy Collection at Pretlow Anchor Branch Library. A large number of Norfolk Main Library’s books will also be available at Pretlow Anchor Branch. There is ample parking at Pretlow Anchor Branch Library, and the library is open 7 days a week. The hours are Monday – Thursday: 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; and Sunday: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

 

During the closure of the main library, residents of downtown Norfolk who utilized Norfolk Main Library as their neighborhood branch will have several ways to receive library services. Library materials will be available for pick-up and return in the Selden Arcade at the City of Norfolk’s Gift Shop. There will also be two Bookmobile stops scheduled in downtown Norfolk, and there are 3 neighborhood branches in close proximity to downtown that residents can go to: Van Wyck Branch Library (1368 DeBree Ave.), Jordan-Newby Branch Library (961 Park Ave.), and Blyden Branch Library (879 Princess Anne Rd.).

 

The library staff at Norfolk Main Library has been busy since January 2011 with moving library materials to the Pretlow Anchor Branch Library, the 10 branch libraries, and the Library Service Center so that when Norfolk Main Library closes, the collection will be available immediately.

 

With the distribution of Norfolk Main Library’s materials and services to the Pretlow Anchor Branch Library and the neighborhood branches, the citizens of Norfolk will continue to have access to the Main Library’s unique collection and its services during the construction of the Slover Main Library.

 

For more information about the Slover Main Library project, please call Norman Maas, Library Director, at 441-5910.

 

 

 

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