LE MARS, Iowa (AP) - Workers have moved 24,000 items from a library in a small city in western Iowa before beginning a $700,000 renovation on the building.
Le Mars library director Shirley Taylor told the Sioux City Journal (https://bit.ly/2pM4PBQ ) that library staff and volunteers from various city departments helped move the items from the library’s downtown building to a temporary home across the street.
“It was a great day,” Taylor said. “We weren’t sure how much we were going to get done, or how many days we needed, but we worked together so well.”
The library closed earlier this month to allow staff to prepare to move its inventory to the Eagles Club building across the street.
The Eagles Club is scheduled to open for business as the town’s library on May 1. It will serve as the temporary library until late fall.
Renovation preparation is expected to cost $350,000, with the actual updates costing the same amount. Assistant city administrator Jason Vacura said the cost doesn’t include removal of asbestos recently found in the building’s canopy, walls and floors.
Taylor said the library renovation will include a new entrance and shelves as well as a redesign of the building’s interior.
Sue Kroesche, a former Le Mars library director, pitched in a number of days.
“We started to get the ball rolling (on renovations) when I was here, but it just didn’t pan out,” Kroesche said. “I just think it is fabulous they can finally remodel it because it was needed.”
The building has served as the library since 1976.
___
Information from: Sioux City Journal, https://www.siouxcityjournal.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.