Families lobbied for library funding in 2017
The fight to get funding for the new Forest Green Library became heated, at times, with former Dallas City Councilman Philip Kingston publicly vowing not to vote for the project and pledging the Vickery Meadow branch “is the only capital library need I support.”
“There is a 100 percent chance we’re going to ignore some of your advice. Maybe all of it,” Kingston told city staffers presenting the bond’s proposed expenditures in 2017.
In the end, Lake Highlands neighbor Karen Blumenthal, author and journalist, helped persuade the council to approve the funding, along with students from LH-area schools, who described how they depend on public libraries for education and enjoyment. Voters passed the bond in 2017.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Forest Green Library will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 on the new site, 9616 Greenville. Free parking will be available at Jordan Foster Construction next door.
“Thanks to many thoughtful and dedicated advocates,” wrote Blumenthal in a post on social media, “a generational project that will impact our community for decades is coming to life.”
The new facility will replace the aging Forest Green around the corner, notorious as the smallest library in Dallas’ system with just 9,000 square feet and only 7 computers. The average Dallas branch is 15,000 square feet with 16 computers, giving internet access to students, job seekers and others needing to connect.
The library is expected to open in the spring of 2021.
The new Forest Green Library
