The other night at the city council meeting, I used a few songs in my presentation about the library expansion project. First there was the song “Unwritten” (originally recorded by Natasha Bedingfield). I love that song. I’ve always loved that song. Probably because of its references to pages and books! But equally important is the message of believing in tomorrow. It is never too late to make changes in your life because every day is a new day…a blank page. I think that allows a person to have hope, releasing him/her from focusing on the negative that might be today.
Here are a few of the words:
I am unwritten, Can’t read my mind I’m undefined I’m just beginning The pen’s in my hand Ending unplanned Staring at the blank page before you Open up the dirty window Let the sun illuminate the words That you could not find Reaching for something in the distance So close you can almost taste it Release your inhibitions Fell the rain on your skin No one else can feel it for you Only you can let it in No one else, no one else Can speak the words on your lips Drench yourself in words unspoken Live your life with arms wide open Today is where your book begins The rest is still unwritten…Such a powerful song, I think. And it’s incredibly exciting to think of our library project in those terms. We are, in essence, writing the story of our community’s future as we plan and design the next version of our library. We are “Fostering Growth,” Fort Atkinson style.
For some reason the words to another song came to mind Tuesday evening causing me to remark that “We’ve only just begun.” It’s true. We’ve been working seven years planning the best possible solution to our space issues and now that we’ve received city council approval (thank you, most sincerely) to move forward, it feels like we have only just begun. Perhaps that’s because the work takes on a heightened focus and more concrete deadlines loom. But as I was reviewing the concept renderings, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of synchronization between the two songs.
Indeed. The rest is now being written. And we have a lot more writing to do…
So here is a rendering (this is not a design, just a first concept) of the outside of the library. Notice the front pillars are slated to be moved down Merchants Avenue to allow for a central building entrance at more grade level. We moved the pillars in 1983, so we know they are movable.
Taking a page from our own history book provides a great foundation as we begin writing our next chapters.
Foster Growth 