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But wait, there's more - at new library
By Carole Cloudwalker
This document was published online on Thursday, October 16, 2008
Even those attending the grand opening still haven't seen all of the new Park County Public Library.
That's because while some 1,000 people enjoyed the Oct. 4 opening and appreciated what they saw, various improvements have been completed since the event, county library system director Frances Clymer says.
Additional furniture and other items arrived at 1500 Heart Mountain St. during the week after the opening, while still other pieces are yet to arrive.
This could make each trip to the new facility a new adventure, quite aside from the usual fun of unearthing a great book to read by the home fires on a chilly fall night, she says.
New in the library's first week are:
-Furniture delivered, including chairs and sectional-couch seating. It's now in place near the fireplace, periodical (newspaper, magazine) section, near the main front desk, in the adult fiction reading area on the east side of the library and near the Biblio Bistro cafe.
The cafe cannot open until an inspection is completed by the Wyoming Department of Health and a license is issued.
-Purple loveseats and armchairs in the children's section.
-Three incoming telephone lines rather than two at the old library, plus the capability to transfer calls, which could not easily be done previously.
-The Social Security Room where those with questions about Social Security issues can schedule (through the Social Security Administration) video conference calls with people who can answer more difficult questions. This is a work room near the Reference Section and is still being completed.
-The Coe Reading Room, featuring volumes on history, Western art and decorating arts. Many of the books are rare and out of print.
They will be in place as soon as lockable bookcases to hold them are completed by Joe Paisley of Meeteetse.
Other yet-to-come amenities, Clymer says, include:
-Overhead signage to mark various sections of the library.
-End panels for all book shelving, which she says are “cosmetic.”
-The final exterior steel sheathing for the steel columns framing the front entry. That outdoor work will take about one week.
-Two computers for the Teen Room and three for the Planetree Health Resource Center.
-Security hardware for doors to the outside fenced areas from the children's section and cafe.
-Stands for the Online Public Access Catalogs (OPAC) computers with which patrons can look up books (replacements for old card catalog). Two of these computers will be set up near the front entrance.
Clymer said until these arrive, the library is using some public access Internet computers; once the OPAC stands arrive, the current computers will be reassigned for public access.
€Among other items, library officials are contemplating the purchase of a “reading loft” for the children's section, using part of the proceeds from funds raised by the sale of the painted bears.
In addition, a half-dozen grizzlies are displayed in and around the library until their final locations are determined, Clymer said. They were all bought at auction and donated back to the library. (Other bears continue to be moved away from the library by their new owners.)
Remaining library bears are “Bubba,” the mosaic by Jane Kellogg which likely will remain next to the fireplace at the front of the library, “Bee Trouble” by Denny Barhaug which will remain near the cafe, and “Bonzo” by Laura Marie Anderson, likely to remain in the outdoor fenced children's area.
Other library bears are “Summer Stars” by Linda Raynolds, “Hiding in the Rocks” by Amy Ivanoff which is probably going to the Powell Branch library and “Brutus” by Mark Robbins, heading to Meeteetse Museums for outside display.
Clymer said the opening was “wonderful,” with “elegant words” by Pete Simpson and “fine comments” by library foundation president Mary Barbee.
“Overall, I've not heard a single negative comment” about the new facility, Clymer said.
One woman told her, “I heard it was wonderful, but I didn't know it would be this wonderful.”
A testimony to how light and open the library is, she added, is the fact that board members have mentioned to her a number of comments from patrons who are slightly confused that the library is, in fact, in the “basement.”
One individual assumed the NWC and UW offices and classrooms were on the same floor as the library because the space is so spacious, and another was confused that the college offices are actually upstairs from the library.
Clymer said she also learned another important thing about the new library's open space during the celebration. That is, the facility can handle several major public events simultaneously and seamlessly.
As the hundreds of people milled around Oct. 4, four distinct events were ongoing:
-A rock band playing inside the crowded Teen Room.
-A busy food/beverage reception in the nearby cafe.
-A overflow crowd for the grizzly auction in the Public Meeting Room.
-And entertainment for hundreds of children next door in that department.
(Carole Cloudwalker can be reached at carole@codyenterprise.com.)
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