The Lehman High School Mariachi Band got the joint jumping on May 12 as the community gathered in the foyer to celebrate the opening of the new Kyle Public Library. (Photo by Lincoln Ramirez)
by WYNETTE BARTON and ADELL HURST
The May 12 opening of Kyle’s new library was evidence that community spirit is alive and well even in the face of the city’s rapid growth. More than 45 volunteers stepped up to the plate, most of them for many hours of hard duty, and the many contributions of businesses and civic groups made the event not only an official christening of the new building, but also a celebration of community effort.
Attendance numbers caught organizers by surprise. The door count showed more than a thousand entrances into the main library area, and as the program began there was standing room only in the newly dedicated community area, the Burdine and Jack Johnson Wing. The Masonic Lodge’s moving cornerstone ceremony was a solemn opening for the event. Immediately afterward, the mood changed as Chamber of Commerce members opened the doors and the crowd followed Lehman High School’s lively Mariachi Band into the building. Later the Hays High Girls Chorus showed off its award-winning talents.
Behind the scenes, Kyle Area Senior Zone volunteers stayed busy showing visitors around the library and filling tables with food (including cakes made by their own hands) and cleaning up afterward. Target and Kohl’s pitched in with volunteers as well, and John Hawn was on hand showing the giant photo of Kyle 100 years ago, a gift to the library he had hung only days before the opening.
Flowers and greenery came with help from Friends of the Kyle Library, HEB, Home Depot, and It’s About Thyme nursery, all arranged by Margaret Trammel, Joan Searcy, Shirley Lucas and Kathy Ryan. The big plants will remain in the library, along with the paintings and sculptures on loan from the Isis Institute of Women’s Studies.
And the food! Michelle Gonzalez, Herb Dyer and the wonderful Seton Hospital kitchen staff were more than generous. Jason Tarr and Adell Hurst drove away from Seton’s loading dock Saturday morning with a van full of food, enough for 300. Milt’s Pit BBQ gave 10 lbs. of their wonderful sausage, Paul Terry of Golden Chick came through with two gallons of great chicken salad, and Bordeaux’s provided beautiful, luscious desserts.
The list goes on: Kyle’s own Starbucks brought 10 gallons of coffee as a gift for the opening. Flautas came from Hair by Isabel and egg rolls from Delicious Dishes Catering. Bread was made by Kyle’s own New World Bakery, a new wholesale bakery in the area. Ray Hernandez and his C of C staff contributed the printed programs. All items not donated were covered by a boost from a PEC check, with help from the Friends of the Kyle Library. Coordinators for the opening were Wynette (Tutta) Barton, Ed Winn and Adell Hurst.
As the library was proudly showed off, including the new Quiet Reading Room furnished by the family and friends of Charlene Dorman, one of the original library founders, there were not many in attendance who could remember the first efforts of a small band of women who first opened a tiny makeshift library in Kyle in the late 1950s. One of those women, Blanche Richmond, was honored at the opening for her past and continuing work. Also honored was Ceverene Lackey, Library Thrift Store organizer and long-time manager, whose efforts kept the library in business for many years and still contribute significantly to its operation.
As the doors closed for the day, some of those who still remember the library’s earliest days mused about how proud early library founders would be of the new building, the number of books, DVDs and computers it houses, the helpful, efficient library staff, and perhaps most of all, the community effort that went into making the library a reality and its opening a memorable event.
