Open house held Saturday for Rock Island Public Library Watts-Midtown Branch

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) - Only three locations in the United States have a library and YMCA connected: Potranco Library in San Antonio, Texas, On the Go - Andover in Andover, Minnesota, and now the Watts-Midtown Library in Rock Island.

An open house was held Saturday morning at the Watts-Midtown branch, making this site the first in the Quad Cities to have a library and YMCA combined.

“This branch is carrying my mother’s name. She was a big supporter of education and was a school teacher,” Eudell Watts III, president of the Rock Island Library Board, said. “She tutored a lot of kids on her off time on her own nickel and dime, and the library was important to her.”

Angela Campbell, Rock Island Library director, said the Two Rivers YMCA and Rock Island Library have had a five-year partnership with each other.

“We both needed a space in the middle of Rock Island, and when the building became available it was kind of meant to be,” Campbell said. “We didn’t need the whole space, the YMCA didn’t need the whole space, and we both exist to make the mind, body and spirit better.”

By both organizations also sharing the utilities, Campbell said it helps financially by keeping maintenance costs affordable.

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