Mayor Adrian Fenty, DCPL Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper, the new interim DPR Director Jesús Aguirre, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, ANC6C02 Commissioner Mark Dixon, Walker Jones Principal Dr. Jeffrey Grant and several news crews were on hand for the ribbon cutting and official opening of the NorthwestOne Library, co-located with Walker Jones Elementary School and the new RH Terrell Recreation Center on New Jersey Avenue and L Street NW.

Although Mayor Fenty did not comment on the expected closure/merger of Scott Montgomery ES with Walker Jones, ANC6C02 Commissioner Mark Dixon noted that he met for more than an hour in a one-on-one meeting with Chancellor Rhee last week as she explained her proposal to him and addressed his concerns. As Dixon said, although some parents of Scott Montgomery students don't want their school closed or to move them to Walker Jones, Chancellor Rhee does not plan to close the school building at Scott Montgomery and expects that if Scott Montgomery leaves the facility in Ward 2, that KIPP DC will likely expand to server pre-K to 6 grades giving local parents in Shaw an alternative to sending students to Walker Jones.

In his first tour of the DCPS/DCPL/DPR Facility since the buidling doors opened, Mayor Fenty said the city has made great progress with this facility which was a fantastic example of how the city plans to address decades of neglect of the city's libraries, schools and recreation centers. He also said that he wants agency heads to be sure to keep computer labs and equipment in the new facility up to date to better server residents.

DCPL Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper (second from left) gave Mayor Fenty and Councilmember Wells a tour of the new DCPL facility which includes a childrens' reading area, mobile laptop stations, and a very large computer lab (I counted at least 20 computers in the room, several being used, one notably by a resident on the WashPost jobs site). Ms Cooper noted that many job opportunities around the District give not other option than to apply online and this will make DCPL computer labs very important resources.

Mayor Fenty, Councilmember Wells, and Walker Jones Principal Dr. Jeffrey Grant talked with local students about the exciting new library which will be a convenient amenity for students at Walker Jones in addition to their own state of the art school library 2 flights up.

Principal Grant, gave a tour of the schools hi-tech and light-filled library equipped with several big screen iMacs for student use.

DCPL Librarian Cooper and Commissioner Mark Dixon were very pleased with the opening. Commissioner Dixon reportedly met with Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells twice a week for almost a year to keep the project on track and to ensure that it met the needs of residents in Commissioner Dixon's single member district.

DPR Interim Director Jesús Aguirre (left), who has been on the job for about five days, and Commissioner Mark Dixon (ANC6C02). Aguirre plans to support the community with great programs for residents.

The state of the art RH Terrell gymnasium will likely be a new polling station for residents in the area in the upcoming elections.