Library Director Leigh Kapsos and library board members Lynda Brown, Gerald Shannon, Sonia Duque-Miyashita and Suzanne Matthews were present at the meeting to accept the proclamation.
The library opened March 3, 1923, and in 1977 moved to a 4,000-square-foot location on Dallas Road. Voters approved a $825,000 general obligation bond for a 15,000-square-foot building at 1201 Municipal Way—the current location—in 1983.
That location opened in 1986, and The REC of Grapevine was built next to it in 2015.
“The city recognizes that our library provides a wide variety of services for all ages by providing access to print and electronic materials, along with expert assistance a dynamic genealogy division and children services and programming for all ages,” Tate read during the meeting.
Tate donated 100 copies of his memoirs, “My Barefoot Days,” to the Friends of the Library. The books will be for sale during the centennial celebration March 4 starting at 10:30 a.m. Tate will be there to sign copies of the book as well. All proceeds from the book sales will benefit the Friends of the Library.
Tate urged those in attendance at the council meeting to take advantage of the library’s vibrant resources.
“When I was a kid back in the ’40s it was dark and dingy and hot and sweaty with no windows,” Tate said. “And books that looked like they came from the tombs of Egypt. I can’t describe how far we have come and how wonderful of a library we have.”
