City starts library move

Date: 10/12/2011

Oct. 12, 2011

By Katelyn Gendron

Assistant Managing Editor

HOLYOKE — The Holyoke Public Library will officially move to the auditorium of City Hall, 536 Dwight St., next month for a stay of approximately two years while $14 million worth of renovations and additions to the library are completed.

The renovations to the auditorium at City Hall should be far enough along to allow library personnel, books and other resources to be moved into the space, according to William Fuqua, superintendent of the Department of Public Works.

“They’re modest renovations to accommodate [library] staff,” Fuqua explained. “We haven’t fully identified the scope [of the renovations] yet. Lighting improvements will be made to the auditorium and we’re still assessing the heating system.”

Maria Pagan, library director, noted that all necessary precautions would be in place at City Hall including the magnetic strips inside the reference materials and door security to ensure the safety of the library’s resources.

When asked how she anticipates the move will impact patronage, Pagan replied that the situation is unprecedented for the library and therefore impossible to predict. The library welcomes approximately 100,000 readers each year, she noted.

“The space is smaller than we have now,” Pagan said of the auditorium. “There will be sharing of office space.”

She noted the inconvenience of the smaller space is far outweighed by the end result of the new state of the art library in two years. The new library bring the building into the modern era, while meeting the needs of 21st century readers with larger areas for adult and children’s services, Pagan said.