History
Dwight Branch is the oldest member of the branch family, established in 1907 when it was opened in the South School District Building. It was established at the request of the public, and was named in honor of Henry C. Dwight who was chairman of the district committee and was instrumental in getting the branch established. The branch was located for many years in the New Park Avenue School. In November 1928, it was moved to rented quarters on Park Street. In January 1975, it was moved to 1893 Park Street. In April 1979, the Branch was relocated in the new Parkville Elementary School at 7 New Park Avenue.
Branch Facts
Size: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,160 square feet
Holdings: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,431 items
Public Access Computers: . . . . . six
Hours Open: . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 hours per week
Attendance: . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,300 visits per month
Circulation: . . . . . . . . . . . 2,659 items borrowed per month
Program Attendance: . . . . . . . . 441 attending programs per month
Reference, Information &
Reader Services: . . . . . . . . 1,493 questions answered per month
Population Served
Population: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,206
Census Tracts: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5041, 5043
School Age Youth: . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,018
% of Free and Reduced School Lunches: . . N/A
% of Adults with High School Education: . 54 %
% of Owner Occupied Housing: . . . . . . 19%
% of Households with Access to Vehicles: 65%
% of Single Headed Households with
Children Under 18 Years of age: . . . . 43%
Community Information
The Parkville neighborhood includes active residential areas as well as an industrial corridor running through Bartholomew and Francis Avenues. On Arbor Street the old Underwood factory buildings have been converted into office and art studio space and also house the Greater Hartford Area Literary Volunteers of America and Real Art Ways, a contemporary art gallery and independent film cinema.
The ethnic composition of Parkville based on the 2000 census is as follows: 18% white, 13% African American, 60% Hispanic (Hispanic population is dominated by the Puerto Rican community but also has a growing number of Central and South Americans that include Mexicans, Ecuadorians, Guatemalans, Salvadorians, and Colombians.) There is also a large Brazilian population. Approximately 46% of adults do not have their high school diploma. The home ownership rate in Parkville is 19%, and median income for adults in the neighborhood is $25,715.
Parkville has 18 churches in the neighborhood, the largest being Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Sorrows, and Templo Sion (PRA Survey 2002). Parkville Elementary is the only school with approximately 700 students attending. The school is a site for preschool classrooms and the 21st Century after-school initiative. The community has only one small park located on Arbor Street. The hub of the neighborhood is the Parkville Community Center attached to Parkville Elementary School. This center includes the Parkville Daycare Center, Parkville Senior Center, and the Dwight Branch of the Hartford Public Library as well as community and recreation rooms. There are 140 businesses in Parkville including many restaurants, grocery stores, beauty salons, and bakeries.
Community Relationships/Services
The Dwight Branch Library regularly schedules storytimes for the following local daycare groups: Trinity Child Care Center, multiple classrooms at CRT on Grace Street, Our Lady of Fatima Daycare, and Parkville Daycare. Each week staff conducts an after-school program on Wednesday afternoon. Dwight staff has participated in read-alouds at the Parkville Elementary School and has also attended first day of school activities. Once a month, members of the Parkville Senior Center gather for a book discussion group. Dwight staff regularly gives orientation sessions to ESOL classes from Literacy Volunteers. The branch works closely with the Parkville Senior Center, Parkville Revitalization Association, Parkville Community Association, Parkville Problem Solving Committee, Parkville Business Association, Real Art Ways, and the Parkville Community Organizer.
Noted Trends
Parkville’s community organizations have been working on several projects that will affect the neighborhood in the future if funding becomes available. The I-84 Bus-way, planned to run from New Britain to Hartford, will have two bus depots in the neighborhood. One of the bus depots will be located at the corner of Park Street and Francis Avenue; the second will be at the Stop and Shop Supermarket. Some of the streetscape improvements recommended by the Picture It Better Together Committee of the Parkville Revitalization Association include plantings, proposed drop-off site at Parkville Elementary School, and clearly demarcated crosswalks. The potential for a Parkville Family Center funded by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving’s Brighter Futures Initiative could result in a place where families could get parental support, engage in parent/child activities, and learn how to better participate in their community. According to the interim findings from the Parkville Economic Opportunities Report, stakeholders in the neighborhood cited the following specific needs as critical: streetscape improvements (curbs, sidewalks, landscaping; follow up work from Picture It Better Together Committee), increased parking for both Park Street and Bartholomew Avenue, support redevelopment of Bartholomew Avenue for commercial/industrial reuse and expansion, establish stronger and better identity for Parkville and the business corridor, improve gateways into Parkville, strengthen marketing/merchandising efforts of businesses, increase public transportation options and hours to better serve the community, improve traffic congestion around Parkville Elementary School to increase safety, blight removal or reuse of abandoned or deteriorated buildings, promotion of home ownership in the neighborhood to provide for increased stabilization, and strengthen dialogue and communication with city and other neighborhood organizations as a means of securing resources for on-going development.
Branch Initiatives
With the implementation of The American Place initiative, both adult and children’s materials were purchased for the branch and hours of operation were extended. Extensive weeding and shifting of collections has resulted in an increase in circulation and attendance in 2001. English classes are available at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The branch will soon have eight laptops for ESOL software. Dwight Branch is a site for many of the library’s Family Literacy initiatives including Creating Readers, Reading Connections, Telling Passages, Family Place, Opening the Book on Understanding, Homework Help On-line, as well as many others involving the Hartford Public Schools.
|
|
