Over 1,000 people celebrated the opening of the new Larkspur Library on Saturday, March 28, with festivities including passing books hand-to-hand from the old library on Magnolia Ave. to the new one on Doherty Dr. 

The inspiration for the Book Brigade came from a similar ceremony in Tennessee, according to Library Director Damon Hill, which some community members saw on the internet and suggested to him.

Clare Doornbos, Larkspur Library member of 16 years, volunteered to help manage the Book Brigade. 

“I am a huge fan of libraries of all kinds,” Doornbos said. “Whenever I move to a new city, the first thing I do is join the library. And when I found out that this was happening, it seemed like such a great expression of community, when we don’t get very many of those opportunities.”

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The first book in the Book Brigade gets passed on from the old library. (Photo by Anika Murray)

Sophomore Hazel Hess volunteers at the library as Design Chair on their Teen Advisory Board, helping to organize events and programs. Hess participated in the Book Brigade, passing the books towards the new library, and highlighted its importance to the community.

“I feel like you don’t always get everyone [together] in the community,” Hess said. “There’s a lot of people I didn’t even know lived here, and you all come together to open this new place that I know is going to be really popular. It was just fun taking fun part in a community thing.”

As people passed off the books down the line, they discussed the different titles with one another. 

“It was really fun,” Doornbos said. “Everybody was looking at the books as they went past and keeping a tally of how many of them they read.” 

According to Hess, the Teen Advisory Board had been discussing catering parts of the new library to a younger audience. She said that she was excited for the new library to bring in a wider range of people than the old library had.

“It’s a lot of our older community members in the other library, which is great, and I don’t think that’s gonna change,” Hess said. “But we’re trying to make it more accessible to everyone, and I think it’s gonna happen, especially because of its proximity to the school. So I’m excited for it to be more of a place for everyone that everyone enjoys,” Hess said.

Doornbos expressed similar hopes of connection and community. 

“I’m hoping that it will be a meeting place,” Doornbos said. “I’m hoping because it’s across the street from Hall, and just down the street from Redwood, that it will be a place where people come hang out,” Doornbos said. 

According to Hill, the main goal of the library staff and team is to create a gathering place that many in the community, such as Hess and Doornbos, are looking for. 

“I think people are going to come here to study together, work on a project, do a program, or they may even connect with themselves by reading, learning. It’s a lot about connection,” Hill said.  

Hess said that she had always wondered if the library would open before she graduated because it had been in the works for such a long time.

“I’m really excited about it,” Hess said. “It feels kind of strange, because they’ve been talking about building this for so many years, and we didn’t feel like it was actually gonna happen.” 

When asked about what it was like to be in the new building after all the work that had been done up to that point, Hill expressed both disbelief and hope for the library’s future. 

“It’s almost indescribable in words, because we’ve been working on this for the community a long time.” Hill continued, “It’s a weird feeling of having an ending and a beginning all in one day.”