WDCity Library

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Please allow me to give you a tour of The WDCity Library, its staff, and its amenities. The name of our facility is "The Universal Library & Community Center." This facility is designed to be something special and out of the ordinary from other libraries and community centers.

The structure of the facility is set up like a foundation. It has a board that makes budgetary and some social decisions, a director who is responsible for the direction the facility takes and its expansion, a head librarian that sees that the library's mission statement is followed, that all librarial functions are carried out efficiently, and that junior librarians perform their duties to the highest level possible, and a manager who is responsible for the building maintenance, the cafes, the vending machines, the custodial staff, and the purchasing of all building supplies.

Each citizen may apply for a library card that entitles them to full use of the library. The building is open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily. The library and community center is run privately, with donations from its founders and benefactors, Lawrence & Jeannette Hampton, two of the wealthiest people in the city, as well as other citizens, and fundraising activities.

The library is situated at 1000 Lakeshore Drive, overlooking Reflection Lake. It is a state-of-the-art, deco style building, with ten floors, and approximately two million square feet. The building was designed to reflect light during the day, and turn into lantern-style lighting at night. The main sitting area and the general reading/work areas are in the center of the building on each floor. All other rooms are on the outer edges of the building and all have windows for better and more natural lighting.

The facility holds over 8,000,000 fiction, non-fiction and ebook titles, and a variety of other media materials. It has many different forms of media, such as audio visual equipment, computer technology, over 300 state-of-the-art computers, films, CDs, DVDs, magazines, periodicals, encyclopedias, maps, doctoral theses, and much more.The reference area includes a million items by itself, and has a rare book department as well.

The building also houses it's own small, but impressive art gallery, a separate music library, movie room, children's reading and activity room, and an adult reading room. It has conference rooms, presentation rooms, a lecture hall, a guest author chat room, and an internet archive room, with on demand books to print.

The fiction book area covers every genre printed, including the latest writing styles such as steampunk, and several genres of fantasy, etc. No genre is missing from the shelves. New genres or experimental fiction is placed in the New Book section of the fiction department.

The non-fiction area covers every topic known to man. Books that are not in the shelf can either be ordered through their extensive library borrowing system, that includes libraries all over the world, or can be printed on demand for a small fee.

Their library borrowing system covers libraries that participate from within the country and around the world. Books from around the world are normally downloaded as an ebook or printed on demand.

Throughout the year, the library brings in a variety of instructors that teach different skills, crafts, writing, and other kinds of classes. It offers activities for both adults and children. Each month a different guest author speaks in one of the author discussion rooms for a question and answer session. They library also holds several fundraisers a year to fund new additions to the building, new books and media, and new activities for the public.

The director of the library is Mrs. Lorethra Jones. Mrs. Jones has been a library professional for over 40 years. She came to the Universal Library & Community Center from the Smithsonian library, wanting to work in a modern library with all the amenities, bells and whistles. Mrs. Jones has several ideas as to how to expand the library's offerings and partnerships. Her connections to the Smithsonian give her access to book, people, and other tangible items that she is able to get on loan from them.

The head librarian is Alice Worthen. Alice has worked in several large libraries around the country and around the world, since her husband was a high level officer in the military and they lived all over. She is passionate about books, reading, writing, and learning in general, and sometimes teaches classes herself.

The library has many employees, such as junior librarians, approximately 20, two for each floor. They have a computer staff and an IT department with 25 people. The custodial staff consists of 12 people, and the audio visual and technology staff members total 10 people. The staff that work the cafes total 12 people.

The library has a small cafe on five of the floors (every other floor). The cafe serves soups, sandwiches, and pizza, along with juices, soft drinks and water. There are a row of five vending machines on every other floor also, with sugar snacks and healthy ones, along with sodas. The library also has a copy and presentation center, where people can copy all sorts of items, documents, make posters or other teaching tools, and put igether entire presentaion with many types of media. Help in all departments is always available. In every department, including the copy center, there are instructions on how to use all the materials and equipment.

The colors of the interior are primarily off white, with wall and floor tiling, chrome/aluminum, and light colored wood paneling in the various rooms. The building utilizes light, and is encompassed in glass. Light greens, pale yellows, and light brown are three basic colors in the scheme, but much of it is shiny and reflective. The lighting is such that it brightens even more intently during the day, even when cloudy or raining, and more subdued in the evening hours to give off a relaxing atmosphere, and to make it easy on he eyes.

The library and community center is more han a simple place to find books and media, its a place that helps its citizens reach whatever goals or assistance they require, and it exists to make the community bond under one roof that holds all its citizen's interests and needs.