Kingsbridge Heights’ Walton Campus, which comprises five schools, unveiled a brand new library for its hundreds of students on April 7 after the complex went years without access to one.

 

Faculty, students, and elected officials gathered to celebrate the opening of the library, located at 2780 Reservoir Avenue, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The space includes new computers along with hundreds of books on well-stocked bookshelves. Along with the new library, a new staff librarian, Maria Simon, was hired in February.

 

“When I say it’s about access, it’s about access to physical books, but also just to a space to connect with each other outside of the classroom, a place to decompress,” Simon said. “I think the idea of not having access to a library is a disservice to our students.”

 

Simon added that she turned the space around in about 30 days, a process that included both ordering books and organizing them. “As far as I can tell, the space has not been utilized since 2018. However, I believe that it was closed previous to that, in preparation for the renovation,” she added.

 

United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew said of the opening, “This really is evidence that when the community comes together, things get done. All five schools should absolutely have access to a library each and every day that school is in session.”

 

Mulgrew added, “We want you to utilize this library. Make it part of your instructional plan, make it part of your support structure; that’s what everyone wants.”

For her part, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said, “There is nothing greater that we can ever invest in than the education of our scholars. It is the gateway and the pathway to a better tomorrow for our children and their families.”

She continued, “This is a project that means so much to the Walton Campus and all of our schools. I am so grateful to be here and to say congratulations because this, your library, we want you to take advantage of it. We want you to learn, we want you to partner with your fellow classmates and really make everything possible.”

 

Meanwhile, District 11 City Council Member Eric Dinowitz, a former special needs teacher, said, “What we want our students to do is what you’re doing right now. Sitting together, ideally working together and collaborating, and having the technology needed to get your work done to be better students.”

 

Dinowitz added, “I am really just so thrilled with the way this space looks and what it means for all the students and all the teachers to be able to collaborate and work together.” The library is now officially open and available for students from all five schools to use.

 

Walton Campus includes students from the High School for Teaching and the Professions, Discovery High School, the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, the Kingsbridge International High School, and the International High School for Liberal Arts.