City College is on a roll. First, in October came the venerable high school's 175th anniversary celebrations. Now, a $2 million capital campaign for a new library at the "Castle on the Hill" has launched.
On the day after the long Martin Luther King weekend, when getting back into the swing could have been a drag, a pep rally in the school's auditorium started the day with a bang. Literally. First came the Pledge of Allegiance recited in Latin by 600 students as well as faculty members, administrators, parents and alums. Impressive.
Then came the Marching Knights band, accompanied by a squad of dancers. They paraded down the aisle, stood at the front of the auditorium and gave an energetic performance of the school song, "City Forever."
Convincing speeches followed by the school's visionary principal and former graduate, Cindy Harcum, class of 1988, and by students and alumni, including University of Baltimore president and former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke, class of 1967, who serves as honorary co-chair of the library initiative with Abell Foundation president Bob Embry, class of 1955.
"Why a library?" some have asked. Those who spoke on Jan. 20, as well as those who did not speak that day, have offered eloquent reasons.
Isaac Lunt, who grew up in Roland Park and graduated from City College in 2014 with the prestigious International Baccalaureate diploma, now attends the Johns Hopkins University as a Baltimore Scholar. Lunt talked about passion
"You all have it," he said to the student body. An aspiring actor, his early passion was reading. An epiphany came when he discovered Shakespeare. Lunt emphasized the importance of the independent pursuit of one's personal passion and the key role that good libraries play.
Current student Chyna Brown, a tutor in the school writing center, said she looks forward to the day when she and her fellow tutors can work with underclassmen in a better setting within the new library.
Chijioke Oranye, student government president, who is also headed to Hopkins as a Baltimore Scholar, talked of a library as a place to pursue dreams and opportunities that his father, who was forced to fight in the Bi-African war, has sought for his family.
Oranye's schoolmate, Makayla Gilliam-Price, co-chair of the library campaign and a champion debater, explained that today's libraries serve as dynamic hubs of communities. At the heart of a school community, the library takes students beyond the school, connects them to other communities and broadens their horizons she said.
Off stage, motivated City College students talked about the importance of a quiet place to work, free of the distractions of younger siblings, loud televisions and neighborhood happenings. The new library will offer a peaceful space where students can process and reflect on the complex information they study.
Students also talked about the importance of having more than one database and wireless Internet access, which the current library lacks. In a community where 62 per cent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches, many do not have computers or wireless access at home. Neighborhood libraries often close before students reach home via public transportation.
The new library will have multiple databases, wireless access, plug-in stations, projector screens and e-books. It will also have plenty of quiet spaces, as well as gathering places. A reading room, a multipurpose space, two academic and research support areas and a collaborative work space will fill the handsome 10,000-square-foot library.
By bringing people together, the new school library will further invaluable human connections and reinforce a strong sense of community, something that is increasingly important in an electronic world.
Physically, the new library will bring together the history and the future of the school. The massive gothic windows will continue to bring in natural lighting. Original terrazzo and stone floors will be exposed in the reading room and the hallway that connects to the technology-filled library.
The campaign itself has energized and brought together the greater City College community. Current business, non-profit and government leaders, who are City College alums, as well as many other men and women who have graduated, are working together with the faculty, parents and students. Already, in the quiet phase of the campaign, they have raised $674,000 privately with the help of the Abell Foundation, the France-Merrick Foundation, the Goldseker Foundation and Baltimore City public school system.
One of the most touching moments of the kickoff was the story of a ninth-grade student. Without other resources, she collected loose change she found on the street. She brought into school a bag with $44.80 in change as her donation to the "Torch Burning Bright" campaign that aims to raise $2 million by March, so a new library will welcome next year's City College students.