Gatlinburg’s new Anna Porter Public Library is bustling with activity as the drive to pay off the new facility continues with the fifth and final Library Luau on Thursday, September 16, at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.
This year’s theme is a Black And White Affair, in honor of the new feathered creatures which now thrive in Ripley’s magnificent Penguin Playhouse. Dress in penguin casual, meaning anything black and white.
“We are so close to fully funding the library, but we’re not there yet,” said Steve Kemp, Chairman of the APPL Board of Trustees, which has been instrumental in the community’s drive to build the magnificent $1.7 million bookstore-style library.
“We need the community to support another great Library Luau,” said Diandra Trotter, who is Chairman of this year’s Last Library Luau Committee. “We can satisfy our obligation to the City of Gatlinburg with a $25,000 payment. Ripley’s Aquarium pledged all the proceeds from five luaus. This is the last one and we very much appreciate their contribution and all the support of the community.”
The luau is an island-themed party held throughout Ripley’s Aquarium starting at 5:30 p.m. The $75 ticket includes great seafood, heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine, live music and wonderful door prizes, including a drawing for the grand prize, a week-long vacation to Bonita Spring, Fla. and $500 in traveling money, provided by Jim and June Gerding. Second prize is an Apple iPad.
“Buy a ticket to help fund the library and come out to have a good time,” Diandra said.. “You can join folks dressed in their favorite black and white outfit having a great time in the most wonderful aquarium in the world.”
All proceeds finance the facility named for the woman who founded Gatlinburg’s first library in her own home on Burg Hill (near Arrowmont) back in the 1920s. Porter had moved here from Iowa as a widow, to live near her married daughter, Ethel Trainer. After settling here, Anna Porter became involved in local civic activities and was concerned about the education of children here. She wrote to her friends back in Iowa, “Send me your books for the children of Gatlinburg have nothing to read.”
Porter’s house was the first of several locations for the Gatlinburg library, including the most recent location on Cherokee Orchard Road that housed the library for more than 35 years. Kemp notes that a new facility has been needed for some time.
“When it was built by the city in 1972, it was considered to be the Cadillac of small public libraries,” he said. “But it was not designed for the technological needs of today, and there was little free parking. That has all changed with the new building.”
The new library next to the Gatlinburg Community Center sports ample parking as well as trolley service. Designed by Trotter & Associates Architect, it features designated areas for teens and children, an adult reading area, public access computers, rocking chairs in front of a stone fireplace and an Internet coffee café. It also includes a large area for the Smoky Mountains Collection, an anthology of important artifacts and documents from Gatlinburg’s history, including the story of a widow who moved here in her 60s and opened her home and heart to the children of Gatlinburg, bringing the world of books to these storied mountains.
Celebrate Anna Porter’s legacy and the new library by purchasing a tax-deductible ticket to the Library Luau at the Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce, Ripley’s Aquarium, or at the library. Tickets are $75 for adults and $10 for children. For more information, call 436-5588 or visit www.annaporterpl.org.
