PORT HADLOCK — After four months in a temporary location and a three-week closure, the renovated Jefferson County Library opens its doors today.
“We are fried,” said Director Ray Serebrin on Friday while putting the finishing touches on the new space.
“But when we open, it will look like what we wanted when we planned this.”
The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 620 Cedar Ave., with the library opening to the public at 10 a.m.
On Friday as staff made the final preparations, several members of the public who wandered in had to be coaxed away, until the “closed for renovation” sign was placed on the door.
Serebrin said that the patrons are ready to return and expects that it won’t take long before the space fills with people.
“There were three little kids here the other night with their faces at the window looking to get in,” he said.
“This has gone very smoothly — aside from a few bumps,” said Associate Director Meredith Wagner. “We really needed those three weeks.
“There was a time when we thought we may have overestimated the time needed but every single day has been a mad house.”
This included moving books back from the library’s temporary storefront location and the Chimacum School District, where a majority of the library’s collections were stored.
The $700,000 renovation of the library turned out to be less ambitious than the original proposal, a $9 million bond-financed expansion that was defeated by voters in August 2011.
The revised plan, announced in May 2012, scaled down expectations but still provided a significant improvement over the old space, library officials said.
The footprint of the building, which totals about 11,000 square feet, hasn’t changed, aside from a 500 square foot “punch-out,” but several renovations have made it appear larger.
The new space meets the library’s goals by providing more efficiency, better lighting and better displays that make the books more accessible, according to Wagner, who will ascend to the directorship when Serebrin retires in the fall.
The technology has been improved by increasing the number of electrical outlets for laptop use, along with the installation of an automated express checkout system.
“People have express check in grocery stores but not in libraries around here yet,” Wagner said.
“You can check stuff out and not need to remember produce code numbers.”
In a concession to the past, there remains one old-fashioned pencil sharpener mounted to a column, at child level.
Serbrin calls next week part of “a soft opening, with no hoopla” leading up to a grand opening celebration from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. next Sunday, June 9.
It will feature music from Harmonica Pocket, the Chimacum High School Jazz Band, Jim Nyby and the Unexpected Brass Band, and Franco Bertucci and James Porter of Locust Street Taxi, along with food and drink.
Service hours at the remodeled library will remain the same: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
For more information, call 360-385-6544 or visit www.jclibrary.info.
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
