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Will the new Ladd Library be better than the Westdale Mall location?
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The Cedar Rapids Library officially closed the doors Sunday at its Westdale Mall location. Library staff and volunteers now will spend the week moving into a permanent westside home.
“It’s a big process. It’s not a long drive, we’re just going across the street, but it’s a big move. We are taking all of our materials over there,” said Amber Mussman, the public information officer at the Cedar Rapids Library.
Mussman said 60,000 to 70,000 books and materials will need to be moved.
The new Ladd Library will offer amenities that the Westdale Mall location couldn’t offer.
“One of the great things that we are looking forward to is the natural light,” Mussman said. “There are big, beautiful windows in that place that just make it a wonderful place that you want to spend time in.”
The 21,000-square-foot library also will feature study rooms, free Wi-Fi and public restrooms.
Do you think the new west-side library will be better than the library’s Westdale Mall location?
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It is hard for me to answer this question since I have not visited the new space. However, I believe that the library is closing the book on what has proven to be a great opportunity. It is unfortunate that the dynamics of the Mall and the superstore greed in the surrounding neighborhood has allowed foot traffic to drop at that mall to the point where moving the library to a location outside the mall is even an option worth considering; but that is the dynamic that those in charge of this decision have chosen to limit their view.
I believe this change makes this branch less convenient.
I think it’s a moot point now that Westdale Mall as we know it is to be “redeveloped”. I personally liked the ample parking and multiple entry locations. Not to mention one stop shopping (given what’s left at the mall) without going outside into howling winds and 30 below wind chills. If you had to move, I guess an old Target store isn’t the worst place to be.