The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
NEW LOOK AT MAIN BRANCH
Community invited to get first look at library renovations
Community members were invited March 3 to check out the new digs at the Lorain Public library System’s Main Branch Library. The branch, 351 W. Sixth St., welcomed all to see the new renovations made to the building, enjoy food from Union Town Provisions and listen to the fine jazz of a live band. According to the system’s website, construction of the Main Branch was completed in 1957 with the capacity to hold over 240,000 books at a cost of $540,528. There was a $1.4 million expansion to the building in 1985 which added 13,300 square feet to the facility and increased shelf capacity by 30 percent. As part of the open house, guests were invited to take part in tours of the newly refurbished facility. Elaine Betting, outreach coordinator for the library, guided one of these tours pointing out each of the updates made to the building.
“We wanted them to have a good space where they could engage with each other.”
— Elaine Betting, outreach coordinator for the library
The tour began in the entrance area, where the DVD section has been removed leaving a wide, open area featuring the large recreation of the Lorain Lighthouse and a pair of wooden benches built by students at Lorain High School. There are also high top tables with chairs. According to Betting, the tile in the atrium is left over from a 2010 renovation on the front of the library and the recently replaced carpet was a holdover from the library visitors would have walked on in the 1980s. The tour then turned to the new computer lab, which has been moved from the second floor near the checkout area behind a glass wall which helps to filter noise. “(The old location) was kind of an uncomfortable space because there was one tiny little window and we were all packed in there like sardines, so that’s one of the main things we knew (we had to do) in this renovation,” she said. The new computer lab also includes free faxing and self printing services, Betting said. Next, the tour passed towards the rear of the first floor where the large, imposing bookcases of the past have been cut down to about four feet high. There is a large, open area in the center that now has four “pods” which contain single seats with adjustable desktops and privacy screens. According to Betting these have been the most popular part of the renovation so far. A large mosaic depicting the Charles Berry Bridge, the Black River and a Lorain Port Authority tour boat was moved from the Toni Morrison Reading Room to the back wall of the facility and the colors used inspired the new paint scheme inside of the library, Betting said. Betting next moved to the children’s section which is now in the southwest corner of the building and now features wooden panels at the end of the book shelves. There’s an open space where children can play and a large graphic along the curved window displaying the Charles Berry Bridge. The downstairs also now features a teen zone, featuring four mounted televisions that can be used to watch television and play video games. The screens can be combined to show a single image or can be used to show different programs or play different games at once, Betting said. “Designing this area was really important to us,” she said. “We wanted them to have a good space where they could engage with each other.” Upstairs, the library now features four meeting rooms featuring tables, chairs and television with frosted glass walls. Betting said the frosted glass can be used as a dry erase board. She said the library is currently in the process of digitizing all of their collection of microfiche and the yearbooks of the schools throughout the city.