Eleven days to go !!!

The MCPL staff has been working steadily since our closing of the temporary location. Each day, the building becomes more and more as it should be. The shelves of the temporary location are quickly emptied and join new shelving at the Chestnut Street building. Each day it seems, new fixtures and furniture have arrived and are assembled and placed into their final positions.


As more of the fixtures are placed, the juvenile area is quickly shaping up.


The same can be said for the Video/ Audio areas.




Almost all fixtures arrived unassembled. Thanks to Rob and his crew, they did not stay that way.


The computer access area couldn't look much different from its predecessor in the temporary location.


. . .and of course the library's theatre couldn't look more different that before (since we had no theatre in our previous locations.)


We look forward to seeing evertone her when we open on April 14 :)

Almost ready to move in. . .

The creation of a new Berea location has been long in coming and is now nearly complete. We are poised to take occupancy on March 10th. Beyond that we will close our temporary location at 5pm March 15th and work feverishly over the next 4 weeks to prepare for our grand re-opening. Below are some pictures of the building as it appears today, Thursday, March 6th:



New sidewalks are going in.


Carpet is being installed.



The lighting has been put up (and doesn't the children's area look great?)

The fireplace is in, and the mantles are being put into place. (Special thanks to local artisan Doug Haley for the loan of his shop and tools which were used in the creation of these mantlepieces.)

A second shot of the children's area...

and the Young Adult area.

The circulation desk location

Soon 34 theater seats will be placed in this room. This will be a fine place for presentations, our Independant Film screenings, and movie nights.

You can never go home again, but you can bring some of it with you. The tiles and tin ceiling were preserved from our old building, and now occupy places of prominence in the new library.

Approaching the final stretches

Sorry about the delay since the last blog entry. As always there are a great many things going on at your Madison County Public Library.

Lots have things have been happening over recent weeks in the new building.

As you can see by the photo below, glass is going in and doors are going up.

Workers have been working feverishly to finish prepwork on the drywall throughout the building.

It is more and more apparant that the reading room in the back of the building is going to provide a wonderful view. . . and a fireplace.

Did I mention that outside of the reading room is a deck. There is nothing like a little fresh air.

If heights bother you, take advantage of the private garden in the front of the building next to the children's area. With a bit of work and a few plants, I think we can promise it to be quite cozy.

There is still much work to do, but what a difference a little paint is making!!!

Or course, a bit of tile makes an even bolder statement. Our new bathrooms are gorgeous, even without the fixtures.

Our "Secret" Garden

As some of you may know, the new library will have many features undreamt of in the former building. In addition to the Young Adult Room and Theatre in the front of the building and indoor and outdoor reading areas at the rear of the building, this new location will have an enclosed "Private Garden" area for those who prefer to read outdoors and enjoy scenery.

This feature, as most others in this building, is still a work in progress. Below are some photos.

More done . . .more to come

As had been mentioned before, the new library will have its own "private garden". This "garden" is actually an outdoor reading area in the front of the building. As you can see in the images below, workers are busily building elements of this area.

This area will be completely enclosed so that everyone must still enter and exit the library through the front door. The additional wall does hold a single brick that is different from all others in the new library. Look closely and you will see a white painted brick, one of the only bricks rescued from the demolition of the old building. It is also one of a very few elements that will serve to tie old library to new.

Curbs and Details

In spite of the cold rainy weather, people have been hard at work at the library site. As you can see below, curbs are being set so that the blacktop may soon be poured.


In the private garden area, workers prepare to build a wall.


For those of you that remember the ceramic tiles on the youth area window sill, they will be moved to this prominent place in the library foyer.

The Berea Room is still under construction, of course.

The reading area is still being worked on. Plans show a fireplace on both sides of this center wall.

Through this door will soon be an open air reading area.

Ever closer to completion . . .

More and more details of the library are appearing each time I step onto the construction site. Workers are ever diligent in their masonry, framing, and drywalling work. It is requiring less
and less imagination to visualize the finished product.

Below is the entrance door frame. In a few months time hundreds of our patrons will pass through this portal daily.

The skylights will eliminate the gloom and closed in feeling that is seen in so many other libraries.

The reading area will provide a wonderful view as you relax near the fireplace and enjoy a bit of light reading.

If you would rather read outdoors, the "private garden" promises to be just as breathtaking.

These men are hard at work helping to set up curbs along the boundaries of the parking lot. In

a couple of short weeks, a blacktopping crew will come in and give us a proper parking lot.