CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Roberto Clemente Community Academy in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood cut the ribbon on a new library Wednesday, after they won a contest sponsored by a national nonprofit, Heart of America.
The library director, Andie Townhouse, said 200 schools were in the running for the library makeover contest. Townhouse said it wasn’t much of a library before the renovation.
“It is vibrant; it is alive,” Townhouse said. “Prior to the renovation, we were in a cave of dust for 13 years because nobody had been here, so I am the first librarian in 13 years. We are just so grateful for the heartbeat that beats inside of this library.
A total of 16,000 votes were cast — 7,000 for Clemente. The renovation includes furniture, new paint, murals and hundreds of books.
“There were 12,000 books that promoted racist texts,” Townhouse said. “I had 300 books from the Church of Scientology circulating on the shelves. I had books that made fun of disabled children.”
Students, such as Anelia Aviles and Anelis Delgado said the before-and-after is like night and day.
“It was, like, no color,” they said. “There’s more space. There’s, like, different sections, there’s the computer side.”
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