GREG IN HOLLYWOOD

celebs! hugging! greg!

LATEST

GREG YOUR WAY

Take the feed! Subscribe

Get GIH news via Twitter

Follow Greg: Twitter Facebook

Greg on Flickr:

Hometown legend Billie Jean King to appear as Long Beach Library is named in her honor this weekend

I lived in Long Beach for seven years in the 1990s and often played at The Billie jean King Tennis Center. I loved that this facility, which I loved, was named after someone who I so greatly admired.

On Saturday, the City of Long Beach will honor BJK again with the grand opening of the new Billie Jean King Main Library. The event, which is open to the public, will begin at 9:30 a.m., with the official program starting at approximately 10:15 a.m. The celebration will take place on Broadway between Pacific Avenue and Cedar Avenue.

“The Billie Jean King Main Library is state-of-the-art, and we are thrilled to name this remarkable new space for Billie Jean King, a Long Beach legend and an activist committed to equity and fairness,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.

The Billie Jean King Main Library (200 W. Broadway) replaces the Main Library, which closed earlier this year. The new 92,500-square-foot building includes space for about 300,000 books as well as a Family Learning Center, the Center for Adaptive Technology, a Veterans Resource Center, study rooms, meeting rooms, a special collections area, and an extensive children’s area with a storytelling space, an art studio and more. The library’s programs will include financial planning, a citizenship corner, job skills training and literacy services.

Billie Jean was born in Long Beach and raised in the Wrigley neighborhood. She began playing tennis on Long Beach’s public courts as a fifth grader, won the Wimbledon women’s doubles title at 17 years old, and went on to win a total of 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles. She campaigned for equal prize money in tennis, and, on September 20, 1973, famously won a match against Bobby Riggs. The match, which was billed as “The Battle of the Sexes,” aired on prime time television to more than 90 million viewers.

An outspoken activist who advocates for gender equality, racial equality and gay rights, King went on to co-found the inclusive World TeamTennis co-ed circuit and start the Women’s Sports Foundation, the Women’s Tennis Association and the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative. She has authored nine books and has been the subject of many more. In 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her advocacy work on behalf of women and the LGBTQ community. The medal will be displayed at the grand opening event.

“I am humbled, honored and so thrilled to celebrate the opening of the new Billie Jean King Main Library on September 21,” Billie Jean said in a statement. “Long Beach provided me with amazing support throughout my youth, career and life and I have always felt incredibly grateful. Thank you to Mayor Garcia, all of our civic and government leaders, and the Long Beach Public Library Foundation, who all had the vision to build this brand new state of the art library, keeping Long Beach and our community relevant and making a clear statement as to why Long Beach is a great American city and a wonderful place to call home. It’s going to be a great day to celebrate our hometown!”

King will speak at the grand opening, which also will feature local leaders, Long Beach Unified School District students, breakfast food trucks, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and interactive activities for people of all ages. The program will be interpreted in ASL, Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog, and the library will open to the public for the first time immediately following the ceremony.

View this post on Instagram

‪Back to where it all began at Los Cerritos Elementary School in @longbeachcity, where I spent time with the next generation of young leaders. They shared their dreams and opinions on how to change the world! I also visited the tennis court where I first began taking lessons with Clyde Walker, and the house where I grew up. So many happy memories. #ThankYouLongBeach ‬#longbeach #myhometown #ThrowbackThursday

A post shared by Billie Jean King (@billiejeanking) on

FILE UNDER: Icons

Comments

(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)

Leave a Reply