NPL has a teenager in the Library family now.

This July, Goodlettsville branch marked 13 years at their current location on Rivergate Parkway – celebrating with a birthday-themed scavenger hunt, a special “birthday box” assembly program, branch swag, and their own version of pin the tail on the donkey: pin the bookmark on the book. Visitors also had the chance to sign the branch birthday card and get some birthday-related reading recommendations.

The original Goodlettsville branch opened on September 8, 1968. With six staff members, 4,255 square feet of space, and capacity for 11,000 books, the original location on Old Brick Church Pike offered the expected resources for the time: reference help, newspapers and magazines, and books for all ages.

A lot has changed since then. Opened in 2011 as NPL’s first LEED-certified facility, today’s Goodlettsville branch boasts a thriving green space currently bursting with summer veggies, a 10,000-gallon underground rainwater tank for landscape irrigation, two electric car charging stations that are available to the public at no cost, and two 3D printers used for all-ages programming.

In addition to green space and high-tech equipment, Goodlettsville delivers top-notch programming for library visitors. They’ve got tai-chi, a knitting group, a tween book club, story times for babies and toddlers, and plenty of other groups and events to suit their customers’ interests.

It’s not every day you turn 13, but there are plenty more milestones ahead. Here’s to many more years of innovation, friendly faces, and community gathering at Goodlettsville, and at all of our NPL locations.

Events at Goodlettsville branch