Library Getting a Facelift

If you've been into the library in the past few weeks you've probably noticed some changes in the colors of our walls. We've had painters in and they are in the process of repainting most of our interior walls. It has been more than twenty years now since most of these walls were painted, and they looked it! The painters started up in the old building with the Dearborn Room, New Hampshire Room, and foyer between the two, turning the boring old white walls into a variety of more pleasing colors. From there they moved on to the downstairs foyer, bathrooms, and the Wheaton Lane Meeting Room. At present they have split their work between the reference area and the Dorothy Little Room.

You may also have noticed recently that our CD music collection is now out in a fully-browsable collection in the foyer between the Dearborn Room and the New Hampshire Room. Over the next week or so you'll see a big expansion in our video and DVD collection as well, as we have made more room for the addition of over a hundred titles that were recently donated to the library. All of our older titles can be checked out for three weeks. Only the newer DVDs will be restricted to two night loans. And remember, there is no charge for checking out movies if you bring them back on time.

In the coming months you'll see even more changes as we convert the Dearborn Room into an area for large print books. That will begin a great shuffling of various library collections and furniture. The area vacated by the large print books will be used for audiocassette books and teen fiction. To make enough room for the latter the entire adult fiction collection will have to be moved down towards the gap created by moving the teen fiction. Many of the shelves that will be used in the Dearborn Room to hold the large print books will come from the staff workroom, freeing up enough space to put in two new staff desks so we can have more places for our staff and volunteers to work at a computer when necessary. It's a big project but we're all looking forward to the changes, and hope that they will lead to better services for all.