Library Renovation On Track for September Completion

After some fast and furious construction efforts, renovations to the are on track to wrap in September, library director of development Susan Mostek told Patch last week.

The remodeling began on May 7 and includes a bolstering of the library’s computer lab, the addition of a young adult area, the relocation and updating of its children’s and community rooms, as well as a host of other amendments to the 111-year-old building.

“It’s like my baby this project,” said Mostek, who was hired in 2009 to raise the money for the renovation. She said it cost $1.2 million dollars; $500,000 of which came from a state grant, the rest raised by the library.

“I know the public sometimes gets confused about where this money comes from," she added, "but this was raised by the foundation, all privately.” 

Mostek said that the fundraising effort began with a major donor push, but has since settled into individual donations. She said the citizens of their borough have been generous in their support.

“We have a lot of people who are very invested in the library in this community,” she said.

The purpose of the remodeling is to provide the library with the infrastructure necessary to meet the rapidly changing educational, and technological, needs of the community.

To this end, it’s expanded from six computers to 13, added a young adult area that will house three computers and a 40-inch widescreen monitor for gaming, movies, and educational classes, and increased space for its already celebrated children’s programs.

Mostek boasted that the improvements have been minimally disruptive to the library’s service: It was closed for two weeks in May and will close again during the third and fourth week of August, but has otherwise been unimpeded. She added that while its non-fiction books are temporarily stored off-site, the library can order a copy of any book requested from one of the other branches in the Chester County library system.