Hilliard library branch has lots of room to read and roam

The problem with the old Hilliard branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library wasn’t the books. It was the space.

At 63,000 square feet, the new library solves that problem.

“In the old building, we used to have programming on top of people trying to study for a test,” said Robin Nesbitt, manager of the Hilliard branch, which has the highest circulation of any library in the system. “Now, people can come in and do their thing without getting irritated.”

The previous location, at 4772 Cemetery Road, was 22 years old and around 20,000 square feet. The new branch, off Leap Road at 4500 Hickory Chase Way, has about the same number of books (around 80,000) but is triple the size. Only the main library Downtown is larger.

The first floor contains dedicated areas for younger children and for events such as storytelling. On the other side of the main level are three private study rooms, a homework help center, a large community meeting room and a cafe.

There’s also “the pavilion,” an all-glass space filled with natural light, chairs and seven patio-like tables with yellow umbrellas. The space was supposed to be a pool in the community center of a senior living complex, but that project hit a snag in 2009 and was never finished.

The city of Hilliard acquired