Rondo Community Outreach Library

The above photo is one of the reading areas of the library. Tomorrow I will show you a close-up of the tiles above the fireplace. Read the information below for a description of the neighborhood.

History of the Rondo Community: "This predominantly African American neighborhood in St. Paul was displaced in the 1960s by freeway construction. In the 1930s, Rondo Avenue was at the heart of St. Paul's largest Black neighborhood. African-Americans whose families had lived in Minnesota for decades and others who were just arriving from the South made up a vibrant, vital community that was in many ways independent of the white society around it. The construction of I-94 in the 1960s shattered this tight-knit community, displaced thousands of African-Americans into a racially segregated city and a discriminatory housing market, and erased a now-legendary neighborhood ."

In the general area of the old community, immigrants have been settling in recent years. On September 9, 2006 The Rondo Community Outreach Library had its grand opening.The unique facility, which features three floors of mixed-income housing above the library ,will serve an ethnically diverse population, including many recent immigrants and low-income families.