DAVIDSON

Watkins Park library triples in size, opens teen room

Jen Todd
jtodd1@tennessean.com

The tiny 600-square-foot Watkins Park library has tripled in size to cater for the daily flood of teenagers after school.

"At 3 o'clock, it's packed," said Calvin Thompson, who works at Martin Luther King Magnet High School, across 17th Avenue North from the branch.

The library showcased its renovations Wednesday at an open house, including a dedicated teen room with 10 computers, extra seating, charging lockers for phones and tablets and more books .

"We’re right next to the high school, so we want them to have a space where they can be independent, do their homework, have access to computers," said Kevin McMahon, filling in as branch manager.

Watkins Park library held an open house to celebrate its major expansion and renovation. Retired Edgehill branch manager Stephanie Townsend, Mayor Megan Barry, and at-large councilmember Erica Gilmore attended Wednesday's celebration.

Former branch manager, Raymond Kinzounza, nicknamed "Grandaddy Daycare," has been promoted to the Pruitt branch.

The Watkins Park library shares a building with Metro Parks' Watkins Community Center and borrowed some of the center's space to create the teen room.

"They come over here and wait for their parents to pick them up and it was like where are they going to sit?" Jennifer Fournier, who did the interior design, said about the branch before its expansion. "We wanted the study space, we wanted some fun space, (and) computer space."

During the day, the library serves seniors to young children, who now also have their own spaces and broader selection of books and movies.

"I think this new space is dynamic," said Beverly Townsend, who worked at the site when it was a Storefront Library, created after the Civil Rights movement. She was also branch manager of Nashville Public Library for more than 20 years. "The needs of society are being met."

The Watkins Park library now has a new teen room to hold Martin Luther King High School students after school.

Mayor Megan Barry also dropped by the open house.

"Thank you for caring deeply about our kids — they are our future," Barry said.

Reach Jen Todd at 615-313-2760 or on Twitter @jentoddwrites.