Thanks to Thomas Books at the Cobb Library System for the following information and photo about Saturday’s special event at the Sewell Mill Library with noted children’s author Laurel Snyder:
North Georgia Kids Read 2019 presents author Laurel Snyder at the Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center on Saturday, June 15th at noon to 1 pm.
Laurel Snyder is the author of six bestselling novels for children, including “Orphan Island” and “Seven Stories Up,” and several award-winning picture books, including “Charlie & Mouse” and “The King of Too Many Things”. Snyder has published work in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times and is an occasional commentator for NPR’s All Things Considered.
The event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
North Georgia Reads was created to promote collaboration between neighboring library systems and to bring bestselling authors to a community of 46 libraries in the region.
Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center is located at 2051 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta 30068. 770-509-2711.
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Get your tickets now for the Cobb Library Foundation’s Booked for Lunch event with Kim Michele Richardson noon-2 p.m., Friday, May 3, at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center. The author’s work includes “Liar’s Bench,” “GodPretty in the Tobacco Field” and “The Sisters of Glass Ferry.” “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” will be her fourth novel.
This fundraising event will help support the Cobb County Public Library. Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center is located at 2051 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by clicking here. For more on the author, visit kimmichelerichardson.com.
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The weather’s expected to be cold and rainy, but there’s plenty going on in warm cozy indoor settings in East Cobb to help beat the winter blues.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) will be hopping with events on Saturday, including the Spoken Arts Showcase from 2-4 p.m. in the Black Box Theater.
The Open Mic event is hosted by Master Peace, and features performances by Mr. B Rock, author of “Artistic Slave,” Camille Victoria and Justin Patton. Musical guest and book signings will following the show. This is a family friendly event.
From 11-1, the theater will screen “They Won’t Forget,” the latest in the Murderino Movie Series, and like all other films there you can bring your own food and drink. This film is rated R.
Both the Sewell Mill Library and The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road) are venues for The Kaleidoscope Fine Arts Showcase, which begins Saturday and continues through Jan. 31 during regular opening hours. The show features art work by students from the Cobb County School District. A reception from 10-12 kicks everything off at both venues. From 12-1:30 p.m., Lassiter students will have performing arts displays at The Art Place.
The Friends of the East Cobb Senior Center its having its White Elephant Auctionfundraiser from 10-3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the center (3332 Sandy Plains Road). Admission is $5 and is cash only; a hot dog lunch will be provided.
Saturday night Mt. Bethel UMC (4385 Lower Roswell Road) will a session on human trafficking from 7-9:30. “You Can Help” features guest speaker Mary Frances Bowley, a local activist against trafficking. The event is part of a nationwide awareness campaign this month; and Bowley will be appearing on Jan. 24 at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.
The Venezuelan Lopez-Tabor Duo will perform on violin and piano Sunday at 4 p.m. at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church (571 Holt Road). It’s the latest in the St. Catherine’s Concert Series.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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The third community piano provided by the Play Me Again Pianos non-profit in an East Cobb location will be unveiled Jan. 9 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).
The debut for “Vincent” takes place at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. Guests can play the piano afterward.
The East Cobb-based Play Me Again Pianos is providing 88 repurposed and repainted pianos throughout the metro Atlanta area. Vincent, named after the painter Vincent van Gogh, is the 20th completed project.
Previously, community pianos were installed at East Cobb Park and the Egg Harbor Cafe restaurant on Lower Roswell Road.
“Street pianos and public pianos inspire people to connect with each other in ways that were once common, but seem increasingly rare. By adding our pianos to the landscape throughout the metropolitan area, we hope to nurture that connection into an evolution of Atlanta’s culture, community and the arts,” said Jason Brett, co-founder of Play Me Again Pianos.
Vincent was designed and painted by Suzzanne Anicette, a local artist and the arts coordinator at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
“The idea and design for Vincent grew out of a desire to have an easily recognizable reproduction of a Master work, since we’re placing him inside the Gallery,” Anicette said. “I wanted to depict the feeling of van Gogh’s Starry Night using slightly more vibrant colors to entice players and help them feel at ease enough to enjoy playing.
“Painting Vincent was truly a labor of love. I can see him symbolically unifying the Visual and Performing Arts that are housed at Sewell Mill and being enjoyed for years to come. I’m grateful to Play Me Again Pianos for affording artists the opportunity to complete these public art pieces. I cannot wait to see the subsequent works take shape.”
Anicette is a former arts teacher in Rochester, N.Y. and Atlanta public schools and community arts centers and museums. She joined the cultural arts division of Cobb County PARKS in January.
Vincent will be located in the Carol and Jim Ney Art Gallery near the entrance to the library.
On Thursday, Jan. 10, a “Play In” will include staff from the Cultural Affairs Division of Cobb County PARKS and the Cobb County Library system playing Vincent in an all-day celebration from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
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The Cobb Master Gardeners held a garden fair and plant sale at East Cobb Park this spring. (ECN file photo)
The fall is not quite here—the weather and calendar tell us so—but those eager to star digging into a new season for their plants and gardens are already in autumnal mode. If you’re itching to join them, two Cobb Master Gardeners information sessions in September in East Cobb can help you get started.
The venues are libraries: Next Tuesday, Sept. 11, from 11-noon at Sewell Mill (2051 Lower Roswell Road), and next Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 10:30-11:30 at Mountain View (3320 Sandy Plains Road).
It’s a volunteer group started in 1980 that’s always looking to add more to its ranks. In 2017 alone they volunteered more than 22,000 hours for projects that include community gardens in conjunction with school groups and those feeding the needy.
The sessions are free and will go over the process of becoming certified and trained to be a master gardener. But you’re asked to call the UGA Cobb Extension office at 770-528-4070 to register first.
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A sampling of what’s on display currently at the Sewell Mill Library art gallery, which is named after longtime Cobb library supporters Carol and Jim Ney.
The gallery is open during regular library hours: M-W 10-8; Th-F 11-6; Sat 1-6, and you literally cannot miss if it you’re headed into the main library area.
The rotation of artwork is curated by Roxane Thompson, who is the library’s cultural affairs art specialist.
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We may be dancing around some raindrops all weekend, but the dancing—as well as eating and shopping and so much more—will go on rain or shine at the Marietta Greek Festival. It leads off a festive slate of East Cobb Weekend Events, as another school year comes to a close and summer activities will be coming soon.
The 28th annual Marietta Greek Festival is a three-day extravaganza of food, shopping, fun and a celebration of Greek culture, kicking off at 3 on Friday and lasting until sundown on Sunday at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Catholic Church (3431 Trickum Road).
A $5 admission ticket is charged for adults, while kids 12 and under get in for free. If you can’t park onsite, a free shuttle will be provided at the following locations, and parking is also free:
Simpson Middle School – 3340 Trickum Road;
Church of Latter-Day Saints – 3195 Trickum Road;
Lassiter High School – 2601 Shallowford Road.
The hours are from 3-11 Friday, 10-11 on Saturday and 11-6 on Sunday.
There’s a main food tent, a selection of street food options, desserts and beverages, all representing the rich culinary range of Greece.
The entertainment schedule covers the span of the festival, and there are vendors, cooking demonstrations, children’s activities and church tours.
Proceeds from the festival benefit Northwest Atlanta Metro Habitat, The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, Inc., a Greek Orthodox women’s ministry that works with other Christian philanthrophies.
Friday and Saturday are the last curtain calls for “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” a comedy musical revue that starts at 8 both nights at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road). It’s the last presentation for CenterStage North until August, when “On Golden Pond” will be featured;
If cooking at home, and making throw-back dishes is more to your taste, a new spring-and-summer series gets underway Saturday at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).
It’s called Retro Recipes, and from 12-1 Saturday, you’re invited to bring an old family appetizer recipe as participants make and share dishes. The series runs through August;
Stick around at Sewell Mill for its monthly Local Lens feature from 4-5. This month’s film professional is Ashley Nichole Smith Carlson, an Atlanta filmmaker who will share her thoughts about her favorite films, and cinematic storytelling.
As the weekend winds down, and the last couple days of school approach, local musicians will be taking the stage Sunday at the Lassiter Concert Hall (2601 Shallowford Road). It’s the Cobb Wind Symphony Young Person’s Concert, and pre-concert kids’ activities start at 2, with face-painting, an instrument petting zoo and other activities. The music starts at 3. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar listing to share with the community? Send is to us, and we’ll post it! E-mail your information to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com. Check out our full Events Calendar, for the weekend and beyond, for more things to do.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, enjoy!
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $1.3 million contract to construct a roundabout at Post Oak Tritt Road and Hembree Road.
The low bid amount (among eight proposals) was submitted by Glosson Enterprises and the funding comes from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST.
The commissioners also voted to proceed with condemnation proceedings involving one property owner on Post Oak Tritt Road to obtain right-of-way for the roundabout project while negotiations continue with that resident.
In addition to the roundabout, the project includes enhanced street lighting and sidewalk ramp upgrades, required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The intersection currently has only one stop sign, at Hembree Road.
Completion of the roundabout project is expected by July 2019, according to Cobb DOT.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners approved spending $197,990 for design and construction administration work for a new building on the Hyde Farm facility on Lower Roswell Road.
Southern A & E, LLC will design the multi-level building that will support continuing agricultural operations, house farm vehicles and help facilitate the use of farm equipment on the 135-acre property, which is being preserved as an educational and recreational resource for the public.
The contract is “one step closer to the idea for Hyde Farm,” District 2 commissioner Bob Ott said before the 5-0 board vote.
The commissioners also voted to spend $191,726 in “closeout” funding for the finishing touches on the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, which opened in December.
The additional money, which comes from the 2016 SPLOST, will be used for rock removal, expanded security, furnishing, signage and acoustical work.
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In the wake of steep budget cut proposals, Cobb library branches have set up tables for patrons to have their say, and contact their county commissioners. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
I went to the East Cobb Library Saturday, and it was PACKED! With people of all ages, and from all walks of life. Yes, the weather was dreary, and yes, the few weekend hours it’s open certainly had a lot to do with the turnout.
We all know this, given how the East Cobb branch is the second-busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System. I read a few newspapers and magazines, browsed the bookshelves and did some research for this piece.
At times I wondered if all this might go away in a few months, this corner of the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, given how the East Cobb Library is on a list of proposed closures.
I was afraid of getting too sentimental, since I grew up in East Cobb (and have written previously about my neighborhood branch, the late, great East Marietta Library).
I’ll admit I’m a bleeding heart for libraries, and this week some really bad emotions came flooding back when I saw not just the East Cobb branch on the hit list (as was suggested last year by commissioner JoAnn Birrell), and several others. Nearly half of all the county branches. A quarter of the operating budget may be slashed, and nearly half of the current operating hours.
For the second time in seven years, local elected officials are playing Cobb library politics, and this time I fear the results could be worse. In 2011, then-commission chairman Tim Lee threatened to shut down 13 of the 17 branches.
The county was in the midst of a budget crisis due to the recession, and his ploy worked. No branches were closed, but hours were cut back. Library patrons kicked up a fuss, and property taxes were raised.
As a citizen, I took a dim view of Lee’s tactics. Those of us who ardently support libraries were played, like a cheap fiddle, even though none of our branches were closed. We felt we had won a battle, but looking back, there was a larger war over our emotions that we may have conceded, and possibly for good.
As a ballyard sage famously put it, it’s déjà vu all over again. Lee’s successor, Mike Boyce, has learned very quickly in his first year in office that nobody wants their property taxes raised. He couldn’t get a 0.13-mills rate increase last year to fully fund the 2008 parks bond referendum that was part of his campaign.
For the last month or so, he’s been toting budget boards to speaking events around the county, with pie charts and lists and all kinds of dollar signs, illustrating a projected fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce at an East Cobb Business Association luncheon in January.
It’s likely to be much higher, and he’s trying to get ahead of the process by repeating this message months ahead of time, preparing Cobb citizens for the worst, what he’s called “the painful truth.” Others think he’s pandering to their emotions to get a tax increase.
At a town hall meeting last month at the East Cobb Senior Center, he told seniors angry about fee increases and the imposition of a membership fee that “we’re all in this together.” Some of them groaned, but he understood the power they wield.
“You all vote,” he said. On the other hand, library patrons “may not all be voters, but if you close their libraries, they will become voters.”
There were some chuckles around the room. This was just a few weeks after the commissioners held their budget retreat, and instructed department heads to look for steep budget cuts.
This week, the library list was the first to be revealed, and nobody is laughing. These proposed cuts have stirred the emotions of library advocates, right on cue. Tuesday’s commissioners meeting will include a public comment session that figures to be the first of many occasions in which they will get an earful from citizens about libraries.
This round of Cobb library politics is complicated by two other major factors that weren’t there in 2011: the Atlanta Braves stadium, and a property tax rollback two years ago.
Boyce and East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott have been making a point recently that the $8.6 million Cobb pays annually for the bond issue to build SunTrust Park may pay off for itself this year.
However, that vote—made in haste in late 2013 following a sham of a process that lacked transparency and accountability—reflects what many, myself included, still believe to be misplaced priorities.
Ott and Birrell, East Cobb’s other commissioner, voted for the millage rollback in 2016 at the behest of Lee, right before Boyce trounced him in a runoff. Those decisions cannot be undone, but they certainly have contributed to Cobb’s financial state today.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened in December, two months before drastic budget cuts were proposed by the library system.
We starve libraries in Cobb, and have for years. It’s ridiculous that I can’t go to my new neighborhood branch, the fantastic Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, before 1 p.m. on a Saturday.
Never on a Sunday is any Cobb library branch open, except the main Switzer branch, but that’s only during the school year.
Braves stadium funding, by the way, is on the “must” list. That item, with a 30-year contract, moved to the head of the line of priorities. Libraries, must settle, as usual, for scraps, if there are any at all to have.
The public library system has a short history in Cobb. Until 1957, libraries were operated only in cities, by municipal governments in Marietta, Powder Springs and Austell. Then the Cobb-Marietta system was born, prodded by Dennis Kemp, a former library board chairman from West Cobb concerned that there were no library services for citizens in unincorporated Cobb.
The county would soon rapidly transform from farmland to suburbia. The first countywide library bond issue was in 1965, and the library system became part of Cobb County government in the 1970s.
I discovered this information in a book about the history of Cobb County by Thomas Allan Scott, a historian at Kennesaw State University. It was published in 2003 by the Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society, and it’s available in every Cobb library branch.
I may not have known this without spending a lot of time in library branches here in East Cobb. Sure, you can buy that book on Amazon, and do a lot of things online, and on your phone, that libraries still haven’t quite grasped. A book I checked out Saturday at the East Cobb Library, “BiblioTech,” argues eloquently that libraries are as vital today as ever, but they need to get their digital act together.
It’s hard to do that if you don’t have the resources, and political support when it matters the most. Sadly, libraries pop up on the Cobb political radar only when they’re threatened.
On the list of proposed library closures revealed this week is the Kemp Memorial Library, named after Dennis Kemp. Another is the Sibley library on South Cobb Drive, named after Frances Weldon Sibley, the first licensed librarian in Cobb County, who started her 30-year-plus tenure in that role in the 1930s.
They were visionaries, well ahead of their time, who believed in the common good of libraries long before they became the third-rail political issue of today.
Whatever you think about tax increases, and the SPLOST process, it’s a shame their names could vanish into history, as well as the East Cobb Library, because elected officials might end up doing more this year than simply playing to your emotions. And mine.
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It’s supposed to be a bit soggy, but not enough to dampen a spirited weekend of events in East Cobb:
Tonight and Saturday are the final showings of “The Savannah Disputation” at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), presented by CenterStage North and the Mountain View Arts Alliance. It’s a Southern theological comedy (there is such a thing!) involving two elderly sisters and a door-to-door evangelist caught up in a crisis of faith. Tickets are $16 and the curtains lift at 8 p.m. both nights;
Also tonight, at the nearby Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road) historical novelists Lauren Willig and Deanna Raybourn will be discussing their books from 6:30-8 p.m. The event is free, and copies of their books will be sold and available for signing;
The 38th annual Walton Raider Chase 5K gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday at Raider Valley (1590 Bill Murdock Road). The event is a fundraiser for the Walton track and cross country teams. A 1-mile fun run starts at 9:30 a.m., and walk-up registration is available for both races;
From 10-5 on Saturday, the Lassiter High School Band is holding a mattress sale fundraiserfor its 2019 trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade in the band room (2601 Shallowford Road). Name-brand items will be sold at a discount, and you can arrange for delivery;
The enticing aromas of Essential Oils will discussed and diffused during a special presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road). The guide is Heather Seeley of Young Living, who will demonstrate the health and cosmetic benefits of such substances. Registration is required by calling 770-509-2730;
Also on Saturday, a Local Lens film screening will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road). Local filmmaker Bill Pacer will show “Meatfactory,” a music video, and take questions after.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar listing to share with the East Cobb community? Let us know! E-mail calendar@eastcobbnews.com with your information. Check out more things to do, this weekend and beyond in East Cobb’s most comprehensive events guide! Have a great weekend!
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What East Cobb Library advocates have feared for months has come to pass: Their branch, the second busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System, has been formally recommended for closure due to Cobb County government budget cuts.
Several months after Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell suggested closing the East Cobb Library, the branch is included on a proposed list of eight library closings or consolidations from the library system to the commissioners.
The Cobb library system has set up an “I Love My Library” page on its website with information about the draft budget proposal, submitted by library director Helen Poyer.
The other library branches that would be closed under the proposal include Kemp Memorial in West Cobb, Lewis A. Ray and Windy Hill in Smyrna, Sweetwater Valley in Austell and Sibley in Marietta. In addition, the Acworth and Kennesaw branches would be consolidated.
The proposed budget cuts also include the elimination of all part-time staff positions, and hours would be cut nearly in half, from the current 780 hours a week throughout the system to 424.
The proposed library cuts would total nearly $3 million, or about 25 percent of the system’s current fiscal year operating budget of $12 million.
Cobb County officials say they’re facing a fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million, and have been directing department heads to recommend cuts in services to balance the budget.
“We need to really fight, now that we’ve seen it in black and white,” said Rachel Slomovitz, who calls the East Cobb Library her “second home” and who has been a vocal library proponent.
The East Cobb Library got a reprieve for fiscal year 2018, but that came just as the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center was set to open on Lower Roswell Road. Commissioners temporarily delayed full funding of that expanded branch—formerly the East Marietta Library—until after the start of the fiscal year 2018 in October.
In December, Slomovitz started an online petition, seeking the support of 1,000 people for raising the millage rate to avoid library budget cuts. Thus far, that petition has more than 750 signatures.
In her petition, Slomovitz estimated that what she called a “minor” millage increase would result in a $25 a year increase in property taxes to fund libraries. Last week, she started a closed Facebook group called “Save Cobb Libraries” to provide information and urge other citizens to contact their elected officials.
The East Cobb Library costs around $770,000 in staffing and for other operations every year, but that doesn’t include an additional $263,000 in annual rental expenses.
The branch opened at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010, after operating as the Merchants Walk Library. The cost of moving and relocating the branch was borne by the developers of Merchants Walk when that retail center was redeveloped.
“I always feared that East Cobb would be on the list” because the branch is leased, Slomovitz said, but she added that the situation is an opportunity for citizens to reinforce to commissioners what’s important to them.
She said she noticed that during recent town hall meetings on senior center fees that funding for the Atlanta Braves’ SunTrust Park was included on a “required” list, while libraries are on a “desired” list, along with senior services and parks and recreation.
“Why can’t the libraries be regarded as just as worthy?” Slomovitz said.
In early 2011, then-chairman Tim Lee proposed closing 13 of the 17 branches as the county faced deep budget cuts due to the recession.
It was a ploy to get commissioners to come to the cutting table and it worked, but also generated heated opposition from library patrons who packed the commissioners meeting chambers.
No branches were closed, but library hours were cut from 1,089.5 hours a week to the current 780 hours, and some programs and services were also reduced.
The new proposed closures come less than a month after county officials, including all five commissioners, participated in ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the new Sewell Mill branch, which has been declared “the library of the future.”
Current Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has wanted to get an early start on the FY 19 budget, which doesn’t go into effect until October. Budget adoption is in July.
But just as he heard from Cobb seniors about rising costs and a membership fee to use county senior centers, Boyce and commissioners are bracing for an earful from library supporters.
In addition to the Sewell Mill Library, the East Cobb area is served by the Mountain View Regional Library on Sandy Plains Road and Gritters Library, located near Canton Road and Piedmont Road.
The “I Love My Library” page reminds readers that the proposals are not final, and that there will be public comment periods at commission meetings to offer citizens a chance to have their say about the libraries, and the budget. The page also includes scheduled meeting dates over the next few months.
“We’ve saved the libraries before,” said Slomovitz, who admits she’s “scared” by the prospect of the East Cobb Library closing its doors for good. “If we did it once, we can do it again.”
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The Summit Trio will be performing Sunday at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church.
We’ve got a short, but impactful selection of East Cobb weekend events on tap through the extended holiday weekend (and please do check out our full calendar listings for more):
On Saturday, you can get your diet, health and nutrition plans in order for the new year at a special presentation by WellStar from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road). A nutrition expert will be on hand providing tips on making dietary changes. The workshop is free but registration is required by calling 770-509-2730;
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) continues its horror movie series from 11-1 Saturday with a screening of “The Girl With All the Gifts,” a 2016 British post-apocalyptic zombie thriller directed by Colm McCarthy. It’s free and you can bring your own food and drink to the black box theater, but the film is for adults only;
The concert series at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church (571 Holt Road) continues Sunday at 4 p.m. with a performance by The Summit Trio, Kennesaw State University faculty members specializing in the piano, violin and cello. The event is free but free-will donations will be accepted;
On Monday, school will be out and local government closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. The official Cobb County and Cobb NAACP celebration is from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday at Turner Chapel AME Church (492 North Marietta Parkway), with WSB TV’s Fred Blankenship serving as emcee.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar listing to share, for this weekend or beyond? Let us know! E-mail your information to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll post it right away. Have a great weekend!
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Elected officials, appointees and Cobb library and parks and recreation staff officially christen the new Sewell Mill facility. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center came a month after the multi-use facility opened on Lower Roswell Road, next to where its predecessor, the East Marietta Library, once stood for nearly 50 years.
Pieces of the old building were distributed to the dozens of guests and dignitaries who crowded the new facility’s black box theater for presentations, and the honorary ribbon-cutting that followed.
As the long history of the venerable East Marietta building was recounted by several speakers, the vision for what’s replacing it was spelled out in excited detail.
With more than 28,000 square feet, the Sewell Mill branch easily dwarfs East Marietta, which opened with 8,600 square feet in 1967.
But it’s the scope of the offerings at the new facility, and its joint association between the Cobb library and parks and recreation departments, that is novel, reflecting what Cobb commissioner Bob Ott described as the “phenomenal” vision of the staffers who saw the project through over several years.
“This truly is the library of the future,” said Julie Walker, the state librarian of Georgia.
In addition to traditional library space, the Sewell Mill branch includes the black box theater, an outdoor amphitheater and cultural “maker” space with digital audio and video recording equipment.
The theater offers regular film screenings and concerts will be a regular part of the schedule. There’s also a teen room and space for writers and filmmakers meet-ups, and classes in digital photography, podcasting, comics, art and music appreciation.
The entire Cobb Board of Commissioners, State Rep. Sharon Cooper, State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, former Cobb County Manager Dave Hankerson and appointees to the Cobb library and recreation boards were present for the event, which also included a special presentation to longtime Cobb Library Foundation board members Carol and Jim Ney.
For their financial support, the Neys were honored by having the Sewell Mill branch’s art gallery named after them, as well as an outdoor patio that adjoins the main reading room.
Jim and Carol Ney honored by Cobb commissioners before the ribbon-cutting.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce and his wife, Judy, also had a study room named in their honor. Boyce said they made a $5,000 donation, but to him, “it was self-evident” to support such a project.
“People are going to have to come see this to appreciate the benefits,” said Boyce. In his ribbon-cutting remarks, he said that “we have gone to great lengths to create a library that I am convinced is revolutionary.”
But its evolution has been a long one, primarily for financial reasons.
The Sewell Mill Library cost $10.6 million to build, with all but $2 million coming out of SPLOST funding (the rest came from state sources). Ott, who was first elected in 2008, said discussions about replacing the East Marietta Library predated his time on the commission.
He recalls hearing his District 2 predecessor, the late Joe Lee Thompson, say to him that a new library was inevitable. “Every year, he told me to be patient,” Ott said. “It’s coming. I don’t know if he thought it would be like this.”
Those plans were put on hold in the wake of the recession. Last fall, as commissioners were haggling over budget details, they temporarily delayed full funding of the Sewell Mill branch, which has additional staff positions.
Those positions were funded and the Sewell Mill library opened on Dec. 4. But as a new year beckons, commissioners are facing a projected $30 million shortfall for fiscal 2019. Soon, department heads will be asked to bring forth proposed budget cuts, and libraries and parks are certain to be among them.
What about those who may regard the Sewell Mill concept as an extravagance?
“Only if you consider your children and grandchildren as an extravagance,” said Boyce, who’s beginning his second year in office.
He noted that while those of an older generation may envision libraries in a more traditional, print-focused way, the multi-platform educational, intellectual and cultural options for younger people need to be accommodated.
“This is not the old library,” Boyce said.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center has the same address (2051 Lower Roswell Road) and the same hours as the former East Marietta Library:
Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
Saturday, 1-6 p.m.;
Closed Sunday.
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Discarded Christmas trees at the Home Depot at Providence Square, 4101 Roswell Road, which will be accepting trees from 9-4 Saturday. (ECN photo)
Saturday is the last day to drop off Christmas Trees in Keep Cobb Beautiful’s “Bring One for the Chipper” recycling program, and several East Cobb locations are participating.
The dropoff hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fullers Park (3499 Robinson Road) and Noonday Creek Park (489 Hawkins Store Road) as well as Home Depot stores at Providence Square Shopping Center (4101 Roswell Road) and Highland Plaza (3605 Sandy Plains Road).
In exchange for your tree (any with decorations will not be accepted), you’ll get free mulch.
There’s a lot going on Saturday elsewhere throughout East Cobb, as we rounded up earlier this week, including a podcasting course from 2-5 and the start of a “Murderino” movie series from 11-1 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road). There’s also a teen light painting workshop from 2-4 at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).
There’s some additional information to note here about the ribbon-cutting for the new gymnasium at Pope High School (3001 Hembree Road) Saturday afternoon, before the Greyhounds’ varsity basketball teams play Chattahoochee.
Spectators who arrive before 3:15 will be admitted for free; the ribbon-cutting ceremony and other festivities begin at 3:30 p.m. It’s Alumni Night for Pope basketball, with the girls playing at 4:30 and the boys tipping off at 6.
A major high school swimming meet, the Indian Invite, takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Mountain View Aquatic Center (2650 Gordy Parkway). The host is McEachern, but the other participants include swim teams from Lassiter.
At the Cobb Central Aquatic Center (520 Fairground St., Marietta), Walton is the host for a varsity swimming meet that includes Wheeler.
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The last day that East Cobb-area libraries will be open for 2017 is Saturday, and the newest branch will be kicking off a new film series in the final event of the year.
The new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) keeps adding to its film screenings with the showing of “Videodrome,” a 1983 Canadian science fiction film starring James Woods and Deborah Harry (of “Blondie” fame).
Woods plays a television executive who chases down the source of a broadcast signal that shows violence, and who loses touch with reality in what’s dubbed a “techno-surrealist” film.
It’s the first of a “Horror Movie Saturday” series that continues every other week through Feb. 24. Saturday’s flick, and all the others in this series, run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and you’re free to bring your own food and drink.
Please keep in mind that this series is for adults only (and “Videodrome” certainly is loaded with adult material), and some films are rated R.
All Cobb library branches will be closed Sunday and Monday, and will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 2 at regular hours and with several events scheduled. Among them is an orientation of the new programs and services offered at Sewell Mill from 7-8 p.m., including the chance to register for classes and programs.
The library opened on Dec. 4, with a formal ribbon-cutting taking place Jan. 9.
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Students, teachers, staff and parents at the official opening for the new Walton High School building in July. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
East Cobb News launched in July, but most of the most notable stories in the community took place during those last six months of 2017.
With just a few days left before the start of a new year, here’s a more-or-less chronological compilation of the stories, events and people who were the biggest newsmakers in East Cobb in 2017.
Handel elected in nationally-watched Congressional race
When Karen Handel defeated Jon Ossoff in a June runoff to win the 6th Congressional District special election, she got a strong turnout in East Cobb that aided her victory. Among her biggest supporters were East Cobb commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Bob Ott, at whose August town hall meeting Handel spoke shortly after taking office to succeed Tom Price. Story.
New classroom building opens at Walton High School
The new $48 million Walton High School classroom and administration building was officially opened in late July, right before the start of a new school year, as work on a new gymnasium and fine arts building was set to get underway. Story and Photos.
In his first year in office, Cobb Commission chairman Mike Boyce was defeated in his proposal to raise the property tax millage rate to fulfill the 2008 parks bond referendum. Story. A couple months later, he and his colleagues hammered out a fiscal year 2018 budget by using contingency funding to close a $20 million deficit. Story.
Wheeler High School becomes STEAM-certified
Shortly after the school year began, Wheeler High School was notified that it was the first high school in Georgia to earn STEAM certification. Story.
Lower Roswell Road crash kills two
Two young men escaping hurricane weather in Florida were killed in September when their car crashed into a brick wall at the entrance to the Gold Branch Unit of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area on Lower Roswell Road. One of the victims was a Wheeler graduate. Story.
Dream season for Walton football team
With a first-time head coach and a losing record a year ago, the Walton Raiders weren’t expected to be a contending team in 2017. But they were one of the biggest surprises in all of Cobb and Georgia high school football with an 11-1 season that ended in the state playoffs. Story.
East Cobb water main replacement completed
After nearly two years of traffic delays on Lower Roswell Road, the $47 million East Cobb Water Main replacement project was completed in the fall and into the early winter, replacing the 54-inch, 6-mile pipes laid down 50 years ago. Story.
Funding for Mabry Park construction approved
After years of delays, Mabry Park is set to become a reality in 2019, as Cobb commissioners voted to spend $2.85 million to build the new facility on Wesley Chapel Road. Story.
A library opens, another eyed for closure
In December, the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened to replace the East Marietta Library. Story. However, the occasion was preceded by commissioner JoAnn Birrell’s suggestion to close the East Cobb Library, which drew heated opposition. Story.
A Winter Wonderland in East Cobb
In early December, an unexpectedly heavy winter storm dumped nearly a foot of snow in north Georgia, and most of East Cobb got several inches. Coverage. For one East Cobb family, however, the storm left them without power and heat for nearly four days. Story.
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The main browsing area of the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
With a whiff of asphalt greeting patrons—the parking lot isn’t quite finished—the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened to the public on Monday, and quite a few people were waiting to have a look around.
Adult patrons, as well as toddlers, babies and home-schooled students and their parents, were the first to get a public tour of the 28,000-square-foot facility at 2051 Lower Roswell Road. It replaces the East Marietta Library, which was demolished last month after 50 years in service.
Built at a cost of $10.6 million, the facility is a joint project of the Cobb County Public Library System and the Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department.
In addition to a large adult browsing room, there’s also a roomy children’s section. The first event at the new library was a pre-school storytime session, and it was well-attended.
One of the parents watching her children was Kara Sutton, who grew up not far from the old East Marietta Library. She and her family live off Canton Road, and she brings her 4-1/2-year-old twins and a two-year-old to public libraries at least twice a week.
“We live closer to Gritters, and love it there,” she said. “But it’s great to have a newer space to visit.”
But the new branch is much more than a library with traditional library services. The “cultural center” component features visual and digital creative space, including a black box theater and an outdoor amphitheater where concerts and film screenings will be presented.
The opening events reflect that commitment to multi-media, including a photography class on the first evening, a comics workshop, enrichment sessions about classic filmmakers and classical music composers, as well as meetups for filmmakers and writers.
The cultural art space also includes “a digital maker space commons” with small recording rooms, an art gallery and art classrooms, conference and study rooms, a public computer room, a separate room for teenage-themed materials and a cafe.
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There will be a formal ribbon-cutting for the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center at 2 p.m. on Jan. 9. It has the same hours as the former East Marietta Library:
Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
Saturday, 1-6 p.m.;
Closed Sunday.
Parking is available behind the building, as work crews finish paving the parking lot and complete the new entrance for Sewell Park Drive at the site of the former East Marietta Library.
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A Cobb County government aerial photo of the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, taken earlier in October. The new branch opens Dec. 4.
The Cobb County Public Library System confirmed today that the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center is opening on its projected start date of Monday, Dec. 4.
The doors will open at 10 a.m., and the address is the same as the East Marietta Library it’s replacing: 2051 Lower Roswell Road.
Some of the initial special events at the new library begin the following day, Dec. 5, taking full advantage of the 28,000 square feet of space that includes a variety of cultural art space, including an amphitheater, black box theater, an art gallery and art classrooms, a recording studio and more.
Those activities include writers and filmmakers groups, a photography class, film and orchestral music enrichment programs, classic movie screenings and concerts.
“Sewell Mill is decidedly about creative space and collaboration, from individuals concentrating on expressing their artistic skills to crowds enjoying musical and theatrical performances alongside traditional library space,” said Cobb County Library Director Helen Poyer said in a statement. “This is a major and unique community asset that all of Cobb County will be proud to use and visit.”
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The site of the old East Marietta Library will become the new entrance to Sewell Park and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
As the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center gears up for its Dec. 4 opening, the old East Marietta Library building that stood for 50 years went away last week.
Work crews demolished the old facility as part of a connected road construction project along Lower Roswell Road.
The old library site will be the entrance to the new library and to Sewell Park. That entrance will be part of a newly figured four-way intersection at Lower Roswell with Shawnee Lane.
The Lower Roswell Road West project stretches from Holt Road to the South Marietta Parkway includes road widening, turn lanes around Eastvalley Elementary School and Sedalia Park Elementary School and repaving.
The 1.29-mile project is expected to finish in December.
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A Cobb County government aerial photo of the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, taken earlier in October. The new branch opens Dec. 4.
The opening of the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) is still a little more than a month away—Dec. 4—but there’s a full slate of activities for the first month that’s already been scheduled.
James Mitchell of the library staff has passed along a schedule of what’s coming up in December, and it features a wide variety of events: from writers and filmmakers meetups, classic film screenings, a photography class, a music enrichment session with the conductor of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, concerts, a regular Open Mic night and more.
That’s because the $10.6 million Sewell Mill Library goes far beyond books to include study and training rooms, a conference room, dedicated children’s and teen spaces, a community room, an art gallery and classrooms, an outdoor amphitheater and a black box theater.
We’ve posted these events to our full calendar listings; you can click on the links below for the full event information:
Writers Groups: Meeting every Tuesday at 6 p.m., these groups can include any genre or focus. The first meeting is Dec. 5;
What Does An Orchestra Conductor Listen To?: Tim Verville, Music Director of the Marietta-based Georgia Symphony Orchestra, shares his musical tastes, which venture far beyond classical in two sessions on Dec. 8;
The films of French director Jean-Luc Godard will be featured Dec. 9 in the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center’s first Great Directors Series installment.
Great Directors Series: The work of legendary filmmakers will be explored every other Saturday for adults only, starting with Jean-Luc Godard and Akira Kurosawa on Dec. 9 and 23 respectively;
Making Comics Workshop: Local comic artists Carlos Perez and Ananya Vahal will lead adults and teens 14 in a Dec. 9 workshop with limited space. Registration is recommended;
The Private Pageant Concert: Marietta electronica/dance/rock musician Tim Exit performs his mixed-genre show at the library’s Black Box Theater on Dec. 9;
Open Mic Night: Starting Dec. 12, musicians of any genre are welcome in the Black Box Theater;
Classic Movie Thursday: This weekly series starts with an Alfred Hitchcock flick on Dec. 14, followed by John Wayne, John Ford and Michael Curtiz in December. You’re invited to bring food and drink to enjoy with the film;
Filmmaking Meetup: Writers, directors and actors of all kinds are welcome at the first meetup on Dec. 19.
We’ll have more details on the opening of the library when they become available.
This reminder: If you were a patron of the East Marietta Library you can pick up materials ordered on hold at the Switzer Library in downtown Marietta or another branch of your designation.
If you checked out materials at East Marietta branch that are due, those also can be dropped off at any Cobb library system branch.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
