Saturday, July 26, 2014

Save the Date

We've confirmed a date to begin the renovation, August 11th!

On Wednesday this week we have confirmation from the construction firm and contractors that they will begin on (or before) this date. With the minimal amount of work that needs to be done, PCPL expects to be a fully functioning library by October 23. What is going to happen in the 2 months? Let me break it down for you.

Okay, I can't break it down in detail because I don't have the plans in front of me, but I am going to take a guess at it. First, a wall will come down. It's a curved wall that separates our storytime room from the rest of the youth services department. The room is within the Imagination Portal, but sectioned off. After construction, the room will be an open space with a projector and other AV materials, and I'm hoping a Wii or PS3. Video game nights, here we come!!

Walls will be painted a bright color. Carpet will be pulled up and replaced once the other debris is cleared. It will cover the entirety of the Imagination Portal.

After the carpet is down, kitchen appliances and cabinetry will go up. That's right, our library will have a kitchen complete with a range and refrigerator! After school (snack) specials brought to you by Mollie ;D.  I suggested that perhaps we can start putting shelving and books back in order after the carpet and paint are set. With the help of our amazing volunteers, we should be able to put the books back up rather quickly. The Neudeck family helped out so much. Not only did they label all of the boxes to make it super easy, they brought down the shelving units and plan to rebuild them when we're ready to move in. We are all very grateful for their generosity with their time.

One of the final steps is to make sure our tree will be assembled on time. The company designing it is from California and it will be built in our area. Essentially, the tree is designed in pieces and broken down. The pieces will be shipped from sunny California to the vast cornfields of Indiana to be planted in our Imagination Portal. They say it should take about 2 days to complete the tree once it arrives.
This is just an idea of what our Imagination Portal tree will look like. Our ceilings are not nearly as high.

We're going to have monitors installed on the walls to show videos and music all day long. The kiddos will love it. New computers will be in another area of the library. It will be an upgrade from the 2 that we currently have.

All of us here at PCPL are excited about how quickly this will be completed. The staff in Youth Services are especially excited since it means we can get out of the cramped temporary room. All kidding aside, the new room means that more programming will take place. As I mentioned with our kitchen, we'll offer foodie programs that will teach patrons how to make easy and quick meals so they don't have to hit up fast food restaurants. Video game literacy will be encouraged here along with other forms of digital literacy. Stay tuned for more adventures in the Imagination Portal.


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