Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Library Opens With Limited Hours
FARMINGTON — Patrons will have the opportunity to see an expanded and completely remodeled Farmington Public Library for the first time this week.
The library is now open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays but with restrictions because of the covid-19 pandemic.
People are asked to socially distance, wear masks and to come in for express browsing for about 30 minutes. Patrons are asked to limit checkouts to five items per visit. No children under the age of 16 will be allowed into the library without an adult.
Rachel Sawyer, library director, said some areas will remained closed to the public for the time being for safety reasons, including the children’s area, study rooms, computers, the community room, public seating and restrooms.
In addition, some services are suspended because of the pandemic: interlibrary book loans and faxing, copies, scanning and notary services.
The expansion project was already underway when most public buildings closed to visitors in March to help slow down the spread of the new coronavirus. Farmington had already closed the library building because of construction.
Farmington added 1,200 square feet to the existing library to bring it to a total of 5,296 square feet. The front entryway has been relocated and redesigned and the layout of the existing floor plan changed. The library now has a community room, teen area, more study spaces, an expanded children’s area, computer stations and more shelving for adult books.
Sawyer said the library has more than 200,000 items available for checkout. For anyone interested in checking out children’s books, she said the staff will pull books as requested or recommend books for parents to pick up inside the library or for curbside pickup.
Children’s Storytime will continue virtually for now on Facebook Live at 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays.
Sawyer said her favorite part of the expanded library is probably the teen section.
“I love that we have an actual teen area,” Sawyer said.
She said she also likes the flow of the design and how functional the library will be for the public.
“I think people will be able to walk in and find exactly what they need,” she said.
She said staff are still making plans for decorating the walls. Sawyer said she chose white walls so they can add color to the walls.
Betty Hummel, president of the Farmington Public Library Board, said she is thrilled with the expanded library.
“It doesn’t look like the same building inside,” Hummel said. “We’re thrilled with the support of the City Council for construction and also with the support of the community for Friends of the Library.”
Friends of the Library raised money to purchase new furnishings for the library.
“It would not look like it does inside without those donations,” Hummel said.
“We’re thrilled with the support the community has given us as far as donations.”
The library is showing its appreciation to those who donated with colorful plaques on the wall at the front entrance. The wall has space to add new plaques as others donate to the library in the future.
For more information about the opening, go to the library website, farmpl.org. Curbside pickup is available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. The library is located at 175 W. Cimarron Place, across from the Farmington Post Office.