After a $130,000 facelift and an 18-day closure, the Edmonds Library reopened Sept. 8 re-carpeted and reorganized.
There is a new lounge with views of the Olympic Mountains, a newly defined teen space and a new, permanent place for the ongoing Friends of the Edmonds Library book sale.
Also, the children’s story pit was filled in for safety reasons, library offices were updated, and new carpet was installed throughout the building.
What matters most, though, is that the library is open again, said Lesly Kaplan, the managing librarian.
“People are back, and they want to read,” she said.
By adjusting the bookshelves throughout the library, gathering spaces that were once cramped are now expansive.
“We wanted to rearrange to make comfortable areas to read and relax,” Kaplan said.
The closure was the library’s first significant closure in years, she said. The renovations were paid for by a fund created when the Edmonds Library annexed into the Sno-Isle Library system
The Edmonds location is one of the largest and busiest libraries in the 21-library Sno-Isle Library system.
Instead of selling from three tired book carts, the Friends’ now sell used book from tall wooden bookshelves at the front of the library.
The change is welcome, said Judith Works, president of the Friends.
“It will expand (the ongoing sale) dramatically. It was small before,” Works said. “We are absolutely thrilled.”
The new carpeting required the library staff to move almost all of the books off almost all of the bookshelves, officials said.
It was tough work.
“What keeps a library running is order. If you cannot find something, what good is it?” Kaplan said. “Getting (the library) back together took a supreme effort.”
The library is excited about its new teen space, too.
The teen section which isn’t set away physically from the rest of the library, nonetheless already had its own neon green laptops, and a colorful banner designating its space.
Now, the library added a different style of carpeting. Anything helps, officials said.
“We heard from a lot of teens that they wanted to use the library, but they wanted their own space,” said Mary Kelly, with the Sno-Isle Library system. “To get to add that is an added bonus.”
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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