Bringing 'Em In

I am currently reading and thoroughly enjoying Letter from Point Clear by Dennis McFarland.  This morning I read a scene in which the young pastor (whose name is Pastor!) of a growing evangelical church who, while describing the church's plans for a new Christian Center complete with a gym, basketball courts, meeting rooms, and running track, says "Half of it is getting them in the door....the other half is building community."

My immediate reaction was "could have been spoken by a library director".  And if you think basketball courts and running tracks are beyond the mission of the library, here's a reminder that this may not be so from Neal Pierce of the Washington Post Writer's Group in a recent blog post on the important role libraries play in the assimilation of immigrants -

"The idea of libraries as social gathering places is hardly new. Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate who built 2,500 free public libraries around the world in response to the immigrant flows and broad social gaps of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, intended them to be places to attract young people. Robert McNulty, a library advocate and president of Partners for Livable Communities, reminds us that Carnegie actually built gymnasiums, boxing rings and swimming pools into some of his libraries -- hoping that once there, the youths would "be exposed to books and learn to read." "  (emphasis mine)

Puts the 21st century debate about gaming in libraries into context, doesn't it?

Hmmm...as we think about the expansion and remodel of the Miraleste Library maybe we ought to think about a gym!