The Cedar Rapids Public Library’s new Busse Branch will open to the public Saturday, Sept. 19, with a grand opening celebration, library officials announced Tuesday, June 30.
The grand opening celebration will begin at 10 a.m. with remarks outside the library, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Activities, refreshments and tours will follow until 2 p.m. The library will remain open until 5 p.m. that day, with regular hours beginning Sept. 20.
“We’re so excited to welcome our community into the Busse Branch,” Library Director Dara Schmidt said. “Libraries are hubs of learning, exploration, and connection, and that is exactly what this new library will be.”
The grand opening celebration is sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation. The foundation’s “Inspiring Big Dreams” capital campaign raised more than $10 million for the project, including a $3.5 million naming gift from the Lavern T. and Audrey Busse Foundation. The city of Cedar Rapids allocated $6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the project, and the Linn County Board of Supervisors allocated $4 million in ARPA funds.
“This library is possible because the community believed in it. Donors big and small came together to invest in this dream and make it a reality,” Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation Executive Director Charity Tyler said. “The Busse Branch is an investment in the city’s west side, and in Cedar Rapids’ future.”
The Busse Branch is located at 1845 Sandberg Lane, a new road off 20th Avenue and Edgewood Road SW. The street is named for Nadine Sandberg, whose $2 million estate gift to the library foundation in 2020 was used to purchase the land for the building.
The 40,000-square-foot facility will replace the Ladd Library, a leased space near the Westdale Town Center, and is intended to roughly double the collection and meeting room space available on the city’s west side, according to the library.
Plans for the branch include a dedicated children’s library with a programming room, 11 study rooms, additional meeting space and an expanded collection.
The design also includes two outdoor courtyards, a glass facade facing the city’s planned Allsop Park, a drive-up book return, a holds pickup window, a dedicated young adult area and expanded technology space. An outdoor area called the Bloomhall Discovery Garden will include a reading space, an outdoor classroom, discovery nooks and native plantings.
The Ladd Library will close permanently beginning Sunday, Aug. 9, so staff can move books, furniture and other materials to the new branch. The last day to place a hold for pickup at Ladd Library is July 26, and the last day to return books there is Aug. 16.
More information is available at CRLibrary.org/bussebranch.
