If you have been around Cochran Park recently, you may have noticed that new shelter has been put up right on the FIRST AVE trail at 22nd Street. This shelter will house a new Library Kiosk, where patrons will be able to check out library material 24/7! The Cochran Kiosk will be able to hold 235 titles and will be stocked with youth, young adult, and adult fiction and nonfiction titles.
The shelter was made possible from multiple grant agencies including the Iowa West Foundation, Community Foundation for Western Iowa, and the Friends of the Council Bluffs Library with a matching grant from the Council Bluffs Public Library Foundation.
An interesting tidbit is the concrete below the shelter was designed and poured specifically to hold the shelter and the soon to be installed kiosk. As you might image these are very heavy devices and we want to make sure the foundation is strong.
That means this project has been on-going for over two years now! The design for the plaza at 22nd street along FIRST AVE was altered to include the kiosk just in time to be included in the installation during 2022. The idea for the kiosk came from strategic planning meetings in 2019. Five years later an idea is becoming a reality!
The Cochran Kiosk is set to be installed the end of this month and a Ribbon-Cutting and Grand Opening Celebration is scheduled for Friday, July 12. Keep an eye out for updates!