Q & A with Christopher Manna Kennett Library & Resource Center

Christopher Manna

Director, Kennett Library & Resource Center

It is nearly an inarguable and accepted truth that the construction of epted truth that the construction of the new Kennett Library & Resource Center – slated for completion rce Center – slated for completion in May of 2023 -- is the most talked about development in the recent d about development in the recent history of Kennett Square. As the 33,000 square-foot structure’s stun3,000 square-foot structure’s stunning architecture is now visible in anticipation of its opening, anticipation of its opening, Kennett Kennett Square Life recently spoke with Library Director Christopher Manna brary Director Christopher Manna about how the new library will impact the communities it serves and pact the communities it serves and its long-term imprint on the way we will learn in the future. we will learn in the future.

Kennett Square Life: What began as a long-term dream more than a decade ago became a giant hole in the ground and now, the dream is rising above State Street and fully real in the form of the Kennett Library & Resource Center. As the Library’s new director, tell the readers of Kennett Square Life what goes through your mind when you look at its construction.

Christopher Manna: What goes through my mind is what goes through my mind every time I hear of a new library being built across the country. Our capital campaign is called the “Imagine Campaign,” and to that end, we are now imagining what this library will mean for the community. Through this building and the partnerships we’re building right now and will continue to build just down the street, it will provide everyone with a higher quality of life throughout the Kennett area and the municipalities the Kennett Library & Resource Center will serve.

term dream more than a decade ago became am is rising above State Street and fully real ce Center. As the Library’s new director, tell oes through your mind when you look at its

my mind is what goes through my mind every s the country. Our capital campaign is called we are now imagining what this library will ing and the partnerships we’re building right e street, it will provide everyone with a higher and the municipalities the Kennett Library &

Although you began as the director of the Kennett Library last November, you are he Kennett Library last November, you are certainly no stranger to library projects. You helped oversee a part of three library buildu helped oversee a part of three library building projects when you were with the Pioneer Library System in Moore, Oklahoma that er Library System in Moore, Oklahoma that included a $30 million, 50,000 square foot library that is scheduled to break ground this ibrary that is scheduled to break ground this year. How does the director of a library continue to maintain balance in that middle ontinue to maintain balance in that middle ground that separates the present and the future? In other words, how have you manuture? In other words, how have you managed the current library while planning for the future one? the future one?

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Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Kennett Library & Resource Center Director Christopher Manna.

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I always think back to what a friend of mine told me years ago: “You always start with the end in mind. Imagine what you want, think about how it’s going to look when it’s finished, and then work backwards from there.” Timing, urgency and rapidity influence the pace and the order of things, but the end product remains the same.

When I started here last November, I told the staff that for right now, we are going to be working in two directions at the same time – working backward and forward to where we are going to be when the new library opens in May of next year. It will create extra work for the time being, but the goal is to equalize the backward and forward momentum so that we can minimize that time as much as possible, and hopefully when we are only moving forward, those two will unite and there will be a broader pathway in front of us.

The Kennett Library & Resource Center is being defined as a community center for the southern Chester County region. Once inside, the public will engage in new opportunities for in-person and on-line learning; attend additional multicultural programs; see concerts, films and lectures in a 110-seat auditorium; gather with others in any one of 15 meeting rooms; as well as expand their creative efforts in maker spaces for children and adults. When it comes to complimenting a well-rounded education, the Kennett Library & Resource Center is going to be a gamechanger, yes?

Courtesy image

The new Kennett Library & Resource center, scheduled to open in May of 2023, will be a 33,000 square-foot hub and connector for the entire Kennett Square community and beyond.

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The new library will offer a 110-seat auditorium that will be used for a wide variety of lectures, fi lm series and performances throughout the year.

This new library has the opportunity to become the community hub and connector for all of the great services and partners around the area. We talk a lot about education and workforce development in contemporary libraries now; we want the Kennett Library & Resource Center to be something that highlights that, but also provides entertainment and makes Kennett Square a destination.

We are familiar with the natural beauty of places like Longwood Gardens, the deep history of this area and the increasing choice of fine dining right along State Street. Our task is to wed all of those assets to what will be a 22nd Century building – to bring innovation and collaboration to a first-class facility in a way that it compliments the incredible services already found in the region. Making all of that accessible and centralized through the library will be a true value to the region.

Of the many partnerships that have been formed throughout the roadmap of what will become the Kennett Library & Resource Center, Longwood Gardens is at our near the top of them. It seems to be a symbiotic relationship that finds its connection through education and accessibility. What is it like to have a world-wide organization on board with you?

Longwood Gardens may be outside of the central downtown part of Kennett Square, but the resources they will provide the new library and the borough through their programming and staff will develop the library as a site of education and entertainment.

I recently had a conversation with an educator, and we talked about the importance of bringing the teachers from that school to the library to give lectures. It’s about bringing people from the eight municipalities that this library serves and gives them a place where they can learn, have fun and grow their entire lives.

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Perhaps one of the most valuable assets of the Kennett Library is one that seems to fall slightly below the radar, but one that needs to be applauded here. The Adult Literacy Program at the Library has to date helped more than 8,000 learners prepare for testing for American citizenship and their general equivalency diploma. With the benefit of more classrooms and larger space – coupled with the changing demographic of this community -- how do you envision the program expanding in the future?

We have never had a place to house any of these classes. Our eight weekly classes are held at Kennett High School, at local churches and most recently on Zoom. We will have the opportunity to provide several meeting rooms in the new library for these classes. The program will grow because of that. We have been in contact with the Kennett Area Community Services (KACS) and La Communidad Hispana (LCH) in an effort to broaden the availability of their resources that will provide additional space for social workers, literacy programs, paths to citizenship and workforce development to take place. It is our job to help connect these individuals to additional resources. We will soon have the meeting space and we will soon have the room. Let’s bring them here.

Simply asked, define what a modern library is, and how you see the Kennett Library & Resource Center wrapping itself around that definition.

A library has, is and will always be about literacy. I think we have now taken the steps to further define what literacy is and how we define that, and while helping people to learn to read and write is fundamental to what we do, but now in the 21st and 22nd Century, we are expanding on the definition of literacy to include digital and information literacy. If you can’t use a computer, how will you be able to apply for a job or apply for health care benefits? A modern library can help teach those basic technology skills.

Additionally, a modern library must also be about social and civil literacy. The Kennett Library & Resource Center will feature a 110-seat auditorium. We imagine this facility as a place to engage in civic discourse – to have difficult but necessary conversations about world-wide topics.

Finally, a modern library must also be about health literacy.

The main entrance and lobby of the new Kennett Library & Resource Center.

We see the new library as a place where health experts from the area will be invited to talk about healthy living and healthy cooking. A modern library is also about financial literacy, to help others -- from kids to adults -- get to a better place financially, and we stand to do that. We also imagine this library as a pathway for people’s lives. Wherever it is that they have slotted in on this highway, we want to help get them to their next exit.

What is your favorite spot in Kennett Square?

I have a sweet tooth and I enjoy coffee, so between Greek from Greece and Lily’s, it’s kind of hard for me to go wrong.

You throw a dinner party and can invite anyone – famous or not, living or not. Who would you want to see around that dinner table?

I want to have a group of people around me that have made it their life’s work to better humanity. I would invite Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Amilcar Cabral, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and Elizabeth I. They were all in difficult positions with difficult decisions to make, but they all strived to do what was right by and for the people. That is everyone’s goal: Are we not here to serve others?

What item can always be found in your refrigerator?

We’re an active family. My son is really into youth sports and he’s got to remain fueled, so you will see multiple sources of protein, as well as fruits and vegetables.

To learn more about the new Kennett Library & Resource Center, take a virtual tour and make a contribution to the Imagine Campaign, visit www.Campaign4KennettLibrary. org.

~ Richard L. Gaw