Paving the way

While our staff busies itself moving books around inside the building, activity is also buzzing outside in the parking lot. Check out this photo... We have a new sidewalk at the entrance, and they're paving the lane that goes by the front door:

Workers are also paving where they widened our entrance/exit to three lanes:

Back to inside the building... We've finished moving Adult Fiction and Large Print upstairs to the new section. However, that part of the building isn't set to open to the public for a few more weeks. In the meantime, our staff can go in and get the book you want... just ask at the Reference Desk.

According to our latest information, our Information Technology staff will move next, followed by our public computers (desks and chairs to start arriving next week!). Next, our Reference Staff will move to their new offices. Our Children's Area will move to the new auditorium downstairs (temporarily), scheduled for August 13. Here's a photo of shelves waiting to be assembled in there:

Things are coming together!

Books are on the move again!

Below is a photo we have been waiting to take for a long time now. Behold! The very first books to be located in the addition!

That's right, folks! Adult Fiction is moving to its permanent home on the second floor of the north addition (on the front of the building) starting this week! Here are some more photos of workers assembling the shelves in preparation for the move:

Pretty exciting!

While we were upstairs marveling at the shelf assembly, we decided to check on progress of the rest of the floor. Check it out! We have carpet. Here's the pattern in the Heritage Room:

 

We also have cabinets! These are in a staff work area upstairs:

All this means that the third and final phase of construction is upon us. Starting this week, we will again move departments around the building so workers can renovate the space. In a nutshell, here's what's moving and where it's moving to:

1. Adult Fiction: Moving from its temporary location downstairs to its permanent home on the second floor of the addition that's on the front of the building.
2. Adult Non-Fiction: Moving from the original Reference Area to space in front of the new elevator upstairs (between the elevator and Adult Fiction).
3. Reference Desk: Moving to its new permanent location on the second floor.
4. Computers: Moving to their new permanent location, where Fiction USED to be before construction began.
5. Administration: Moving to the Heritage Room while existing offices are renovated.(Heritage Room will still be closed)
6. Children's Area: Moving to the new auditorium on the first floor of the front addition while its space is renovated.
7. Young Adult Department and Audio-Visual Department: Moving to the original Circulation/Lobby area while its space is renovated.
8. Circulation Department: Moving to temporary quarters in the library's future store/vending area.
9. Entrance: The main front entrance will be open! (and just wait until you walk into our new atrium!)
10. Elevator: New elevator will be open and operational, which means no more navigating the back hallway to find the elevator we usually use to bring book carts upstairs.

So as you can see, things are moving along, and we're getting closer to the finish line! We ask that you bear with us during the next few weeks as we transition to Phase III. There will probably be some inconveniences during this phase. Some non-fiction books will be packed away for a bit due to limited space. During the next couple weeks as we move books around, the Adult Fiction will be inaccessible to patrons until the temporary construction wall comes down.

But don't worry! You can order any non-fiction book you need through the PINES network, and staff will be able to go into the new addition and grab the fiction book you want during the short time Fiction is closed off. So if there's a book you cannot find, please ask us for help!

Preparing for Phase 3 of Construction

In less than a month, things are going to get REALLY interesting around here, as our staff moves everything into the new parts of the building so workers can revamp the old parts during Phase 3 of our construction/renovation. This means the Children's Area will move to the new 300-seat auditorium downstairs, the Young Adult department and Circulation will move, and Adult Services, including Reference, will move to the area that's BEHIND the WALL upstairs. Naturally, things are shaping up around the building, as we get closer to the move date...

Things like... CARPET! Check out these photos of the upstairs of the addition that faces Dudley Drive, the future home of Adult Fiction:

Also upstairs, here's a shot of our laptop bar. We'll have this counter with stools where you can bring your laptop, plug in to an outlet and use our free wireless Internet access. These windows let you look down into our new atrium at the entrance.

Speaking of which, the Atrium is shaping up nicely, too:

And last but not least, you may or may not remember that the public elevator will be relocated. Instead of being off to the side, the new elevator is right in front of our big staircase (where the original circulation desk stood.) This area will still be Circulation when construction is done, but it's going to look different. Here are a few shots of work on the elevator. Downstairs:

And upstairs:

Pretty cool.

Parking Lot Progress

They are still working on our parking lot, and it's kind of a jumble out there. We are still open, of course, but please be careful driving and walking in the parking lot!

Some of our islands have been removed and are in the process of being rebuilt. Here is a shot from a few days ago, showing how the footprint for a new parking lot island has been cut into the asphalt:

Once the space is cut, workers have to build up the curb. Here's a shot of them doing just that:

And of course, they're still working on widening our driveway. It looks kind of messy, so please be careful entering and exiting our lot!

And finally, if you've been by this week, you may be wondering what they're putting on the overhang of the tower out front... stickers?

Nope. Workers are now installing sheets of metal. The white paper with the writing on it is a protective film so the panels don't get scratched up during installation. Once all the pieces are installed (kind of like a giant, upside down, very heavy jigsaw puzzle), the film will be peeled off, and we'll have a beautiful building! The same panels will be installed on those green areas between the windows on the addition and on the posts. It's going to look cool.

Updating our parking lot

If you've been by the Library in the past couple weeks, you've no doubt noticed some big changes with our parking lot. Things are going to be messy out there for a couple weeks as workers widen our driveway and reconfigure the lot to meet current code.

For starters, there has always been a bit of a bottleneck with people trying to leave the Library parking lot because we've always had one entrance lane and one exit lane. With the renovation, we'll soon have three lanes... one entrance and two exit lanes (one for turning left onto Dudley Drive, one for turning right).

In addition to the wider driveway, the parking lot update will include the installation of new islands, curbs and sidewalks.

Also, you may have noticed that some of our beautiful trees have been cut down.

Unfortunately, some of the trees had to go because they've outgrown the spaces they were planted in! Don't worry, though... more trees will be planted. Plus, the big tree in the circular island out front (a genuine descendent of Athens' most famous tree, the Tree that Owns Itself) will remain untouched.


We ask you to please be careful while driving and walking through our parking lot while this work is going on. We'll have construction fencing, orange barrels and flagmen to help you navigate!

First look at the first floor addition!

Get ready to feast your eyes on all kinds of exciting photos in this post! First up, a lovely shot of the new lobby with tower from the outside taken this morning. Workers are almost done with the glass. The awning took shape over the past few days. Looks great!

We were lucky enough to get some photos of the first floor work INSIDE this morning, for the first time ever. Here are some exclusive photos of the new auditorium/meeting room on the east addition (facing Dudley Drive):

This room, which will seat 300 people, will also be divisible into thirds to create three separate meeting rooms. These big windows overlook the retention pond out front.

It gets great sunlight in the morning. Can't you just imagine having a meeting in here? (once it's finished, of course) The first floor of this addition will also house the Library Store and a vending/cafe area, with doors that open onto a patio.

And now for the REALLY cool, knock-your-socks-off photos. Remember that glass tower out front? We actually got photos from inside the new lobby, and the scale of it is breathtaking:

The above photo is taken looking toward the front door. Notice the worker to get an idea of how tall this space is.

Here's a shot facing into the lobby from the front door. To the left is the new auditorium; to the right is the library's Circulation area.

Can you tell how excited we are?

Progress!

Moving right along. The additions are just about "dried in," meaning that we have walls, roof and windows. Right now, the most obvious work you see outside is work on the new lobby's tower, as seen above. By the way, the green spaces you see under the windows will be covered with silver panels for a sleek, modern look.

Workers are putting the finishing touches on the glass for the lobby.

But there's a lot of stuff going on inside, too. Workers are finishing up HVAC in the additions and installing fire sprinklers. They're also working on drywall and will begin millwork (interior cabinets and trim) soon! We'll try to get some photos of that for posting once it begins!