JFK campus opens Koppell library

At the official opening of the John F. Kennedy Educational Campus’ new library on Oct. 9, Bronx Theater Principal Charles Gallo, a JFK graduate, had a run-in with his former librarian Ginevra Padula, the Kennedy campus’s first librarian.  

“I said to her, I’m sorry about that book I borrowed in 1979. I’ll bring that back,” Mr. Gallo joked.

Ms. Padula joined current teachers and students from the campus’ seven schools in welcoming Oliver Koppell to the new learning center, named for the former councilman in thanks for the $700,000 in capital funding he secured for the library’s renovation, along with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., during his time in office. Mr. Koppell stepped down from the City Council due to term limits last year.

Kennedy campus students had been without a library since 2009, when the previous center closed. The new facility, located on the building’s first floor, is equipped with Mac computer stations for each of the schools on campus. 

Its book collection, which mostly consisted of old books, some of which dated back to the 1970s, now holds over 4,000 new titles, with more on the way. 

“I can’t get over the change. I don’t recognize it at all,” said Ms. Padula, who worked at the campus from 1972 to 1989. But she had high praise for the new center. 

“I’ve looked around at all the books and it’s fantastic,” she said. “It’s very important for the kids to have all these books, instead of just staring at a computer.” 

The opening gave students and visitors a chance to share their stories about the importance of reading, and libraries, in their own lives. 

Mr. Koppell, who attended P.S. 7 elementary school in Kingsbridge, said he distinctly recalled spending hours at the old library on Kingsbridge Avenue each day after school. 

“I would always go to that library and read, and it really was an important part of my education,” he said in front of student representatives and principals from each of the campus’ schools. “I became interested in government and politics because of the things that I read in that Kingsbridge library.”