Lipscomb Elementary began working toward a new library last year, and on Wednesday morning staff unveiled the new space.
Numerous community and education partners teamed up with the school to create a space for students in the historic Junius Heights building.
Principal Daisy Briones, who took the reins of the school when longtime principal Roxanne Rodriguez-Cheek left to lead Woodrow Wilson High School, thanked the East Dallas Exchange Club, The Real Estate Council, Munger Place Church, Lipscomb’s PTA and Old East Dallas Early Childhood PTA for their work on the new library.
Dallas ISD trustee Dustin Marshall was on hand and noted the unique private-public partnership that made the new library happen. He said Lipscomb was “no longer a hidden gem.”
Leo Smith of The Real Estate Council, which is an organization to help real estate professionals impact their communities, said the project included more than $85,000 in donated items and money raised.
Principal Rodriguez-Cheek also spoke at the ribbon cutting. “I have been amazed by the heart of people who don’t even know Lipscomb or us who are able to come in and care,” she said.
The new library includes new wood flooring, bright carpet, tables, shelving, a reading nook, a projector, a Lego wall and a green screen with different backgrounds for the students to manipulate. “We want the space to be an extension of the classroom,” Briones said.
PTA leaders and students also showed their appreciation at the ribbon cutting.
I wish every kid in the ISD had a place like this,” Marshall said.
See more of the festivities and the new library below.
