History
The Park Branch is part of the Southwest Cluster. The branch was established in May 1928 in a small rented store at 876 Park Street. In September 1939 it was moved to 815 Broad Street. In August 1975 it was moved again to its present location at 744 Park Street.
Branch Facts
Size: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,000 sq. ft.
Holdings: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,118 items
Public Access Computers: . . . . . . . Six
Hours Open: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 per week
Attendance: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,656 visits per month
Circulation: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,131 items borrowed per month
Program Attendance: . . . . . . . . . . 130 attending programs per month
Reference, Information &
Reader Services: . . . . . . . . . . 1,125 questions answered per month
Population Served
Population: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,323
Census Tracts: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5028, 5029, 5030
School Age Youth: . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,864
% of Free and Reduced School Lunches: . . 82.5 %
% of Adults with High School Education: . N/A
% of Owner Occupied Housing: . . . . . . 7.3 %
% of Households with Access to Vehicles: . N/A
% of Single Headed Households with
Children Under 18 Years: . . . . . . . . 63.8 %
Community Information
Businesses: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125+
Churches: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Educational Institutions: . . . . . . . . 10
Parks: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Social Agencies: . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Community Relationships/Services
Park Branch has increased its visibility in the neighborhood as a resource through outreach and networking with community organizations. SAMA (Spanish American Merchants Association) is conducting a traffic study for Park Street and has a Park Street enhancement project. The City and Broad-Park Development Corporation are involved in many projects in the Frog Hollow Neighborhood. The focus is on rehabilitating multi family buildings, including new construction geared for low-income first time homeowners. Park branch is also on their list for relocation. Park Branch provides service to a variety of community agencies, including North and South Frog Hollow Neighborhood Revitalization Zones, Sanchez and Burns Schools, day care programs, the Salvation Army, and a family resource center that focuses on service to Hispanics. Services provided include publicity for community events, school mandated volunteer community service, programs geared to the community, and voter registration for the public.
Noted Trends
Our Spanish collection draws many out-of-town customers who are particularly interested in newspapers, videos, music, magazines, and books. Mobility continues to be a significant trend in the area. As families grow more affluent and mature, they tend to move to more residential areas, while those with fewer resources remain. Younger families move in and out of the area in search of a better life.
Branch Initiatives
Staff has made an effort to involve themselves with community activities through the Frog Hollow Team. An increased effort has been made to improve the outside appearance of the Branch, which includes regular sweeping, mulching around the hedges and working with Hartford Public Library facilities staff and the landlord to find alternative ways to combat trash.
Park Branch staff is working with neighborhood and community organizations to promote library services to the Spanish speaking population by using the library as a meeting place, providing additional story hour to daycare groups and promoting the rich resources, including the advanced technology that the branch has to offer. HELPNET will provide a stronger link with the Maria Sanchez School and D. F. Burns School by giving them access to library holdings. Park Branch is part of the new HELPNET II Centralized phone system. In addition, Park branch is also providing Internet and data services to the Frog Hollow Firehouse using the telecom equipment installed for HELPNET I. Library materials are an important resource to our customers. Staff is working to increase the number of book and non-items in Spanish as well as electronic resources.
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