Back in the day ...
When Serafin Calvo attends Thursday’s dedication of the
East Las Vegas Library, it’ll be a homecoming of sorts.
From 1975-85, Calvo and his family lived in a home on land that’s now part of the library property.
“When I was a kid, it was fun because it was a community. We shared each other’s backyards,” says Calvo, who now lives in the northwest valley.
“As we got older, as we got to be teenagers, you realize there was a lot of gang (activity) then, in the early to mid-’80s.”
When he was a kid, going to the library meant walking or riding a bike to Las Vegas Boulevard or to the nearest
North Las Vegas Library branch, and the latter involved navigating fewer hills.
Calvo found out about the new branch about three years ago and looks forward to what it will mean for his old neighborhood.
“Nowadays you can’t even apply for a job unless you do it online,” he says. “So the library is definitely going to be a huge benefit not just for students but for adults as well.” Center. A homework help center for kids will have 20 laptops, while the library’s youth services department will offer an additional 20.
Storytelling sessions and children’s activities will be held in an area called the “Imaginarium,” and a family activity space is called the “EL28 Lab,” named for East Las Vegas and the street the library borders.
Community service
Norberto Madrigal, vice-chairman of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, says the East Las Vegas Library will be a “game-changer for the community.”
The library’s resources — for example, Wi-fi and computer access and its job training programs— are “needed in that area,” he says, as are programs that can help community members connect with one another.
The new library’s goal is to stoke patrons’ imagination, Heezen says. “People come to libraries and it ignites their dreams. They start dreaming about something and then can come here and discover how to actually do it. It’s a passport to their future.”
Contact John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280. Follow @Jjprzybys on Twitter.