Libraries: Arnett & Wheatley
- tatedecaro
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
310 Arnett Blvd, Rochester, NY 14619
This branch of the Monroe County Library System (MCLS) was founded in 1923 (though the current building is more recent, having been completed in 1973). That's over 100 years of serving the 19th Ward community!
One major highlight, which you'll see before you even enter the library, is the collection of outdoor book spine murals. These originated in 2017, but have been added to since then. They were painted by local artists Richmond Futch, Jr. (a prolific painter who passed away earlier this year), Ebony Singleton (at the time, a student at Edison Career and Technology High School), and Chloe Smith (muralist and visual artist).
Moving indoors you will find more artwork by Richmond Futch, including a beautiful mural illustrating some of the places a good book can take you, and depictions of well-known children's book characters in the children's section.
Activities at the library include story times, homework help, Lego club, a teen center, live music events, computer resources, literacy volunteers, reference help, DVDs and music, and, of course, lots of books! I hear that the library also has a table at the Westside Farmer's Market on Thursday evenings (June-October).
33 Dr Samuel McCree Way, Rochester, NY 14608
This spaceship-shaped library was designed by architect James H. Johnson, and built in 1971. Johnson also designed downtown Rochester's Liberty Pole, St. John the Evangelist Church in Greece, Temple Sinai in Brighton, AND, famously, the Mushroom House in Perinton!
The library is named for Phillis Wheatley, who is considered to be the first African-American author of a published book of poetry, as well as the first published African-American woman of any genre. She was kidnapped in West Africa at the age of seven or eight, and sold into slavery to the Wheatley family of Boston. Progressive for their time, the Wheatley's allowed Phillis to learn how to read and write, and encouraged her interest in poetry. (I mean, they still had slaves, so let's not give them too much credit.)
The murals on the ground outside of the library celebrate Wheatley, as well as:
Thomas James, a minister & abolitionist, who was born into slavery in Canajoharie, NY in 1804 and escaping in 1821. He founded the AME Zion Churches in both Rochester and Syracuse, served for the Union Army during the Civil War.
Alice Holloway Young, educator and advocate, who developed the first and oldest voluntary desegregation program in the country in 1965, in the form of Rochester's Urban-Suburban Program... and guess who was a participant? Me! And my brother, Jason! We went from Pittsford in to city schools for K-12. In case you're not familiar:
Mission: "To voluntarily decrease racial isolation, deconcentrate poverty, and enhance opportunities for students in the Rochester City School District (RCSD) and in the suburban districts of the Greater Rochester Area.... Pupils residing in the participating districts may apply for transfer from the RCSD to suburban school districts or from suburban districts to the RCSD."
Holloway Young was also a founding trustee of Monroe Community College (MCC),
and I had the privilege of meeting her when I worked at the MCC Foundation.
Clarissa Street, a lost-to-time-but-not-to-memory neighborhood famous for its Black- and brown-owned businesses and jazz music in the 1940s-1960s. The bulk of the street was demolished in the '70s to make way for I-490, but lives on with the help of the Clarissa Street Legacy Committee, and an annual Clarissa Street Reunion festival.
There's also ASL numbers hopscotch!
Inside I found a Harry Potter lego set, a Book Bike, and an enclosed private meeting room for two. And one last, brief note - I noticed a newly painted basketball court across the street from the library. The Bronson Avenue Playground opened in 2022, but I think the pastel rainbow paint job is newer (possibly a Peculiar Asphalt project?).
Thanks for reading! More to come.