Montoursville Library plans renovations amidst 75th anniversary
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MONTOURSVILLE -- A year filled with activities celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Konkle Memorial Library culminated with a gala recently to kick off the renovation project that's being planned, according to Dennis Correll, vice-president of the library's board of trustees. Cost of the project is estimated at about $300,000.
"We've had a whole year of activities. We've had author signings, we've had children's programs, we did an event, tea in the park. The community was invited. All those various things have happened over the year," said Correll.
"On the heels of this is us launching into our next phase of being a library and that is a total renovation," he added.
In order to proceed with the current renovation plans, a
complete analysis of the building was commissioned to ensure that it is structurally sound. Because of the location of the building, any changes have to be done through renovating and not construction.
"One of the things the board is very committed to is evolving as a library," Correll stressed.
One area of Konkle that is very active is the children's section. As Correll spoke with the Sun-Gazette, children wandered through with their parents, headed to the area at the back of the building to the area set aside for storytime.
"As you can see today we have a big group of children. Actually this is a smaller, younger group. This past summer we had over 150 kids in our summer reading program," he said. "That's a lot of kids."
He noted that adequate space for programming has been an issue.
"We're stuck with just a little, itty, bitty spot there," he said.
The renovation will allow the library to use the room next to the children's room plus a room adjacent to that space for programming. The furniture which will be used in the renovated space is designed to be mobile.
"All the bookshelves can be unlocked," he explained. "When we want to do an adult program, we can push them off to the sides. Now we'll have one big room to work with."
"The same way with the children," he noted. "Because we do movie time, and of course storytime and everything else. So, the librarian who takes care of the children's programming, can push that to the side in the morning."
Brighter colors and carpeting will be used in the reconfigured children's area. Seating will be provided by chairs that fit back in the bookshelves so that children can sit and read, as well as mats that are placed on the floor.
"The second thing we don't have is private tutoring areas. We do a lot of tutoring here, both adult and high school and kids after school and all summer long," he noted.
The new design will create four or five private areas for tutoring at each end of room by using furniture and not walls, Correll said.
Another aspect of the renovation project is that the height of bookshelves will be lowered from eight feet to 60 inches.
"It's just a different image to make it much more open and when you do that, it will feel bigger," Correll said.
The amount of space for displaying books will remain the same, he noted.
The library has about 3,500 patrons, or cardholders, borrows about 40,000 units a year, according to Correll.
"That's a lot of people," he noted.
Also on tap for the project are new lighting -- energy efficient -- and new flooring.
The renovations are being handled by a company from England, Opening the Book.com, which has a local office in Williamsport. Correll stressed that the target area for the renovation campaign is Montoursville.