To frequenters like Cheryl Dunigan, the new entrance to the Catonsville Library is more than just a way to get to the parking lot.
“It?s not just a door,” Dunigan said. “It?s accessibility.”
As vice president of the Friends of the Catonsville Library fundraising group, Dunigan was one of several who gathered inside the library?s lobby Tuesday to celebrate a new electronic sliding door that replaced a cumbersome, heavy door in the back of the building.
With parking located behind the library, one of the county?s busiest, about 70 percent of the branch?s 1,400 customers a day entered through the rear door ? often the subject of complaints from mothers with strollers, customers with stacks of books to return and the disabled.
Just minutes after the official ribbon-cutting ceremony with county officials, cake and oversized scissors, library volunteer Bob Kuhl breezed through the doors in his electric wheelchair, calling it “magic.”
“Before, he?d have to wait for me to open the door, or someone kind to open the door,” said his wife, Marlene Kuhl. “It was tough, and even for me. The door was very heavy.”
Led by their president, Maggie Schorr, the Friends launched a massive fundraising campaign to support the door in November 2005. With the help of local developer Charles Skirven, they raised $30,000 by last August, a huge amount compared with the $5,000 it collects during an annual drive to fund things like snacks at book clubs.
That covered the door?s design and landscaping around the new entrance. With the help of Councilman Sam Moxley, D-District 1, the county reserved $191,000 for the door and new lighting. The back of the building, customers said, has now become the front.
“It?s been fantastic, especially for the older folks,” said Robert Maranto, branch manager. “They really appreciate it. With the county?s population getting older, it?s really timely.”
