10,000 individual visitors. 5,000 checked-out items. 2,200 free computer sessions. Three weeks. These staggering statistics define activity at the new Richard M. Daley public library branch, 733 N. Kedzie Avenue, since its opening July 8.

West Humboldt Park has long wanted for a library branch to answer needs within the community: An open conduit to books, films, and other media content; free computer and internet access; meeting space for the active organizations and grassroots groups within the area; indoor and outdoor gathering spaces for residents; and an anchor institution for the commercial corridors of Chicago and Kedzie Avenues.

The new Richard M. Daley library branch answers these needs and then some, bringing powerful amenities such as an African-American heritage fiction section, a vast Spanish-language section, a teacher in the library, a cybernavigator, a green roof, and a MacArthur Foundation-funded YOUmedia Center, which will engage young people in hands-on technology opportunities to create their own content and build skills that help them to stay ahead of the curve academically and professionally.

The library’s dedication ceremony on Thursday, July 28 featured both former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley – the branch’s namesake – and current Mayor Rahm Emanuel, among other luminaries. Daley, who was recognized for constructing 59 new libraries in his 20-year tenure, acknowledged the importance of public buildings as anchors for community, but also honored the hard-working people of west Humboldt Park for always seeing themselves as part of the equation of neighborhood improvement.

Alderman Walter Burnett of the 27^th Ward echoed these sentiments: “In this community, Blocks Together, the West Humboldt Park Development Council, KAFT, and others all came out and let their wishes be known,” he said. “It was not a matter of if, but when.” Burnett also acknowledged former Mayor Daley’s assistance in securing TIF funds for the building when other funding reservoirs ran dry.

Mayor Emanuel, who called the event “one of the proudest days of my life,” has begun the Rahm’s Readers program, which encourages parents and children to read together. Judging by the standing-room-only crowd at Thursday’s dedication, this won’t be a tough sell.  Local families are already making the library an integral part of community life, and young people have clearly adopted the YOUmedia center, slated to open officially in September, as a second creative home.

Clearly the library fills a valuable resource gap in west Humboldt Park. As local residents watch the library’s native plants grow, so too will the community grow as a result of the open doors of this long-awaited public institution.