The library was more than a place to flip through pages of new books and let the imagination wander for Yolanda Jiggetts. The chief executive officer of Park Heights Renaissance, a Baltimore nonprofit dedicated to implementing the master plan for the city’s northwest neighborhood, considered the library a safe haven as a kid.

“The library kept me out of trouble,” said Jiggetts, who believes her life could have been completely different if she had been influenced by the negative factors of her neighborhood. In more recent times, however, Jiggetts and thousands of other Park Heights residents endured a quarter-century without one after the library closed in 2001.

That’s now on track to change as city officials, residents and other community stakeholders on Wednesday celebrated the groundbreaking of a brand-new library branch in Park Heights and the expansion of C.C. Jackson Recreation Center.

The 18,000-square-foot library on a new Woodland Avenue site will be a short walk from the recreation center, which is on Park Heights Avenue.

Supporters point to a series of collaborations, including a partnership between the city’s Recreation and Parks and its Department of General Services, that helped save costs and expedite the combined $19.3 million projects. They are expected to be complete in two years.

The Board of Estimates approved $18.6 million for the projects in July. The Enoch Pratt Free Library raised $6 million, which will help with costs for furnishing the library.

The city’s library system hasn’t built a new library in over a decade. The Park Heights branch, rising on the 3200 block of Woodland Avenue, is expected to open in 2027 and will have children’s reading areas, multipurpose meeting rooms, a computer lab, public internet access through Wi-Fi and more.

A library and expansion of the park next to the recreation center have been long-sought items in the neighborhood’s 20-year-old master plan, which includes key ways of developing and improving the 1,500 acres of neighborhoods.

Park Heights once had two libraries. The Keyworth Avenue Branch, which was built in 1912, closed in 1986. In 2001, then-director of Enoch Pratt Free Library Carla Hayden closed five more library branches, including the last in Park Heights, because of financial cutbacks. The cuts, Hayden said, were necessary to move toward a stronger library system.

Today, the former Pimlico library branch building, which sits at Park Heights and Garrison avenues, houses St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore’s Head Start program. The new library is being built from the ground up, expected to feature a bright green tiling at the mouth of the entrance, with outdoor tables and benches nearby.

Pamela White, a Park Heights resident since 1988, remembers how much her grandbabies used the library. Though “you could tell it needed a little love,” White said she enjoyed how there was always a greeter by the front entrance ready to gather the kids in a circle for reading time.

For decades, residents have talked about the need to bring a library back.

At the ceremony Wednesday, Minerva Eaton, president of the Hilltop 4100 Neighborhood Association, and Sarah Matthews, an assistant with Park Heights Renaissance, lauded the efforts of the late George Mitchell, a longtime community leader who died in 2020.

Mitchell, Eaton said, brought “pride back to Park Heights” and started a food pantry at Langston Hughes Community, Business & Resource Center among other community initiatives. Mitchell often started and ended conversations talking about the need for a library in the neighborhood, according to Matthews.

“This was his dream,” she said.

Jiggetts, who has a sweet spot for libraries, didn’t ignore the chatter when she began her role at Park Heights Renaissance in 2020. Conversations were happening, but they needed a unified strategy and approach, Jiggetts said.

“You can’t stay siloed in your strategy because there are so many ways to work toward the finish line,” Jiggetts added.

Part of that strategy meant staying in contact with the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Christine Espenshade, who’s been on Pratt’s board for 17 years, said this was a unique opportunity, given the investment going into Park Heights.

Pimlico, a 150-year-old horse racetrack, is being demolished and rebuilt. New homes have been built in recent years, and a neighborhood pool opened this summer on Towanda Avenue. Park Heights was designated a Baltimore Main Street district last year, which helps businesses and community development.

Espenshade said a bump in population is expected and the library will be another important asset to support a boost.

“I am looking forward to seeing customers come in and the joy on their face when they see new materials, new computers and new resources for them provided at no cost,” Espenshade added.

Yeshiyah Israel, who owns an African apparel shop on Park Heights Avenue, isn’t short on ideas for what the library can provide. Israel, whose father has been in the community for over 50 years, wants to see computer training for seniors, resources for entrepreneurs, a passport service and options for teens to be more involved.

She’s also looking forward to being a short walk to the new location, which Israel regards as a sign that “change is coming.”