PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Library will use trucks to move 60,000 books to its temporary home at Mountain View Commons, but it will begin the process by forming a “human chain” from one location to the other on April 9.
“At first, we thought we were going to have a kids parade from one place to the other, but the library serves a lot more than just kids,” said Library Director Theresa Percy. cq
“We decided to use the human chain because we wanted to have something that will involve the entire community and draw attention to our move.”
As part of its renovation, the library will be moving its operations from its location at 1220 Lawrence St. to Mountain View Commons, 1919 Blaine St., where it will operate for an undetermined time but will most likely be through the end of 2012, Percy said.
During this time a seismic retrofit will be done on the main Carnegie library.
The cost of the retrofit will be subsidized by a $761,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant with $265,000 in city matching funds.
This amount includes the cost of moving library inventory for the time needed for the retrofit, along with funds allocated for rental of the temporary space.
To finance the entire project, the private campaign is $2.5 million, Percy said, and “we’re waiting to hear on some state funding and working on developing other local sources.”
Revenue from a city levy lid lift approved by voters in 2008 to benefit the public library was earmarked for operations and could not be used for capital projects, Percy said.
The human chain will take place at 3:30 p.m., at which time people can gather at either end of the route, or assemble along the way.
After the chain is completed, it will pass several “symbolic books” to demonstrate the move between the two locations.
Percy does not know how many people will be needed to make the chain but guesses that it could be a few hundred.
The library will close three days before the chain event on Friday, April 6, and will remain closed through Sunday, April 15.
During the 10-day closure, all due dates will be extended to Monday, April 16.
The adult and teen collections will move to the cafeteria beneath the gym at Mountain View, and the children’s collection will move to a classroom in Mountain View’s main building across from the police station.
The Mountain View main library hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
On Wednesday, the library will be open 4-8 p.m. only. Friday hours will be 10 a.m.-6 p.m. It will also be open Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sundays, 1-5 p.m.
The children’s section will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Wednesday and Sunday.
The closure of the children’s library and shorter hours for the main library Wednesdays are to accommodate parking for food bank customers.
During the closure, book drops will continue to operate — one at Mountain View and another at the main library.
Books may continue to be returned at Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar St., in Port Hadlock and at the book drop at the Port Townsend QFC, 515 Sheridan St.
“This has been overwhelming,” Percy said of the move.
“But we are committed to making this move a smooth one, and will keep the service level as close as possible to what we now have in the main library.”
For more information, call 385-3181 or visit ptpubliclibrary.org.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
