Massillon Public Library News & Notes       September 2019

Happy September and back-to-school, friends:

 

As you read this, we should be midway in the latest remodeling project inside the library’s Main branch, but you might never know since it’s not in a public area. This is the reason that the Auditorium is out of commission for two months as our Bookmobile staff members work out of that space.

 

As you look at the building, the low flat add-on to the east (“uphill”) used to be the Massillon Museum’s art classroom. However, since our West Side Branch on Tremont closed and Bookmobile service began in 2002, the space has been used to house the Bookmobile’s collection of materials and their staff work area. Also housed there are Children’s materials, such as our “Books-in-a-Box” collection — 30 copies of the same book in plastic bins that teachers use in the classroom. As you can imagine, those bins take up quite a bit of room!

 

What you can’t imagine is that behind all the shelving and hustle and bustle was not just an ugly work area, but one that would actually become unhealthy if we didn’t do anything. A plan to simply replace dropping ceiling tiles and 1960s vintage floor tiles turned into a major project with the discovery of asbestos adhesives. So, a simple cosmetic job has turned into an “encapsulation” of the entire room during removal of the ceiling.

 

Your library uses EVERY square inch of this building (Our archivist has a desk in a hallway between my office and a kitchenette!), but we definitely want everyone to work in a healthy environment. So, in spite of the bad timing of this project taking place at the same time as the Lincoln Way closure, we have to do it in that gap between Summer Reading Club and fall programming.

 

Thanks so much for your understanding if your program has been moved to a less comfortable meeting space during the renovation. We hope to get our Auditorium back in October!

 

I’ve taken too much space already, but just a quick book blurb. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane is moving, absolutely addictive (Sorry, house, but you’re not getting cleaned THIS weekend!) and one of the few recent books I held to my heart after finishing. If your family isn’t perfect or you’ve ever forgiven someone or been forgiven—isn’t that all of us?—you’re in for a treat.

 

Happy reading,
Sherie Brown
Director