U.S. Congressman Jim Ramstad, Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, and County Commission Linda Koblick get ready to cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the new Eden Prairie Resource Library. The new library will host its official public grand opening on Saturday. We’ve waited a long time for this library, and I can tell you that it was worth the wait. Until you can get there yourself, here’s a short tour:
The new library is located at 565 Prairie Center Drive. It is located just west of the old library site. This is an exterior shot of the building. The County added the domed roof feature to an otherwise regular commercial box building.
Here’s what that dome adds to the interior of the library:
The old library was 15,000 square feet. The new library is 40,000 square feet. It holds a total collection size of 154,697 items. There are 190 parking stalls in the parking lot on a total site that is 4.42 acres.
The new library has a public meeting room with a capacity of 80 people:
The library is partially powered by a natural gas fuel cell that combines hydrogen with water to produce electricity. It is a pilot project made possible by Hennepin County, 3M, CenterPoint Energy, and the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance.
One of the things that I found most interesting about the new library was the innovative way they process books. Books and other items you return to the library find their way automatically to this conveyor line:
Which reads the library’s bar code on the item and sends it down the conveyor
where it is automatically kicked off the conveyor line and on to a waiting cart:
where a human being will then take it to its rightful place in the stacks. Amazing!
We are lucky to have this new library. Hennepin County Commissioner Randy Johnson was instrumental in keeping this project moving when it could have dropped off the County’s priority list many times. Thanks Randy.
So get to the library. You’ll be glad you did.
