Forever Bricks and Children's Room

Today we have a few photos of the Forever Bricks being laid, plus some shots of the new children's room. "Like" us on Facebook or visit our Flickr slideshow for more photos and information about the renovation, plus other library events.

The new children's carpet with some fun pops of color.

A partial view of the new children's room.

The new children's room has a large door for adults and a small door for our younger patrons.

The first few rows of the Forever Bricks being laid.

A close-up shot of the Forever Bricks in progress.

The move begins (plus Kindle lending!)

Even though we won't close down until Monday, we've started moving a few things into the west wing. The Huntsville Item has a story with more details about the closure. We'll be closed for two weeks, so today and Saturday are the last days you have to stock up on reading material.

If you aren't able to make it to the library, though, we have good news: our downloadable e-books are now compatible with the Amazon Kindle! Previously, our e-books were compatible with all major e-readers except the Kindle. We're very pleased that we're able to extend this service to Kindle users, especially since our survey indicated most of you who own a reader own a Kindle. Visit www.myhuntsvillelibrary.com and click on the "Download eBooks" graphic to get started. We also have plenty of audiobooks available. Read the press release for more information.

Shelves go up in the children's room.

New kitchen

Community room

Library Closed September 26 - October 9

The library will be closed from Monday, September 26 through Sunday, October 9 to facilitate the move to the west wing so the current building can be renovated. We will re-open Monday, October 10 at 10:00 AM.

Other information you should know:

• No items will be due during this time. If you have items that would normally be due during these two weeks, they will be due on October 10. 
• All regular programming, including Preschool Story Hour, will be cancelled for these two weeks.
• ILL requests will be processed beginning Friday, September 2. You may still turn in your requests, but they will not be filled until we re-open.
• The phone lines will also be down and staff will not have access to their computers. We will be, for the most part, off the grid - please ask us your questions before September 26!

There is good news though. Today our downloadable e-book and audiobook service launched! This means if you have a home computer you'll have plenty of reading material while we are closed. Visit our website at www.myhuntsvillelibrary.com for more information. It's easy, free, and we have hundreds of books (current and classic) available.

Updates

Work on the exterior has continued: the walls are fully bricked, most windows are in, and the roof is being worked on. Take a look at the photos below, and be sure to click on them to view them full-size.

View from 14th Street

Another view from 14th Street

View of west wing from Avenue M

Another view of west wing from Avenue M

View of west wing from 13th Street

Windows!

The west wing has windows! It's a little tricky to see, but check out the photos below. As you will see, the entire west wall has also been bricked. It looks almost ready to go.

More brick images - click each image to enlarge

Completed east wing

Progress on the west wing

Progress on the west wing

The bricks go up!

The bricks have started to go up on the east wing walls, and scaffolding has been placed to facilitate the installation of the bricks on the west wing!  Take a look at the photos below.  The new structure is more and more resembling an actual building these days.  Goodbye neon green...

The bricks start to go up on the east wing.  Perspective from 14th Street.

The bricks pile higher.

 

The 14th Street view of the east wing is completed.

Another shot of the east wing.

Scaffolding around the west wing from 14th Street.

Scaffolding around the west wing from Avenue M.

Interior Photographs

One of the most interesting things about a new building project is the way the interior looks in progress.  Here we've collected a few photos of the inside of the new east and west wings.  You can view even more photos at the library's Flickr slideshow, located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntsvillepl/show.

The entryway into the east wing

This shot of the east wing gives you an idea of how large it is.

More east wing

More east wing

 

Parking lot behind the library

West wing

West wing

West wing

Book Sale!

Most of you are probably aware that the library has an ongoing book sale where we sell paperbacks, hardbacks, audiobooks, and VHS movies throughout the year.  These items are usually priced somewhere between 25 cents for a paperback to a dollar for a hardback.

Well, the walls are moving in (quite literally - the temporary walls are being moved in further to the existing library space), and as a result, storage space is at a premium.  In order to clear out some space, the library has decided to reduce all book sale items to ten cents each.  This means that instead of paying a dollar to get one hardback book, you could pay a dollar and get TEN hardbacks.  With this system, the library and its customers both benefit - we get the much-needed space and you get even more reading material.

This price reduction is temporary, so we hope you'll come by soon and look through the hundreds of items offered for sale.  The majority of the items are set up in boxes near the back wall, and we also have a few carts of books near the front door.

Questions?  Give us a call at 936-291-5472.  Happy shopping!

A little color

Things are looking a bit more colorful around the new library wings these days thanks to the bright green siding/insulation that has been installed.

Installation of A/C Unit

The air conditioning unit was installed on the west wing today (the unit on the east wing has been in place for a few days), and we were lucky enough to get some photos of the process.  It involved a 200-ton capacity crane with 250 feet of boom.  The A/C unit itself is about the size of a school bus.  Take a look below!