For the first time in decades, a community in Northeast D.C. is celebrating the grand opening of a new library.
The new Lamond-Riggs/Lillian J. Huff Library, along South Dakota Avenue, opened its doors to Ward 5 residents Monday.
Mayor Muriel Bowser joined local leaders and community members to celebrate the new $20 million, 24,000-square-foot, two-story facility that now stands where the old library once did.
“The transformation of libraries means yes, they’re about books; but they’re also about all of the other ways that these buildings and the great professionals that work here can connect us to the rest of the world,” Bowser said.
The library is named after Lillian J. Huff, a woman who served as a community activist and mentor to Mayor Muriel Bowser and many others over the years.
“She loved this library. She loved Riggs Park,” Bowser said. “We are particularly proud to name this beautiful new facility in honor of Lillian Huff, a woman who fought hard to secure the original Lamond-Riggs Library.”
Council member Kenyan McDuffie also honored Huff during the event.
“Nothing makes me prouder than being here today because of the legacy and all the energy, love, blood, sweat and tears that Lillian Huff poured into this community,” McDuffie said.
The library also features a large meeting room with a capacity for up to 100 people, seven smaller meeting spaces, a protected front porch area that is accessed from inside the library and a discovery zone for kids. This is the 22nd library in D.C. to be renovated or rebuilt since 2007.
