WITH VIDEO: Library branch renovations start

It’s been almost a year since the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library’s Board of Trustees voted on the purchase of a building to be utilized as a branch and a lot has been completed, but there are more improvements on the horizon.

The library has accepted a bid of $102,624 to start the third phase of a renovation project at the Kanell Boulevard branch.

“The branch has been open in a limited capacity since July of this year, with the lobby area being the primary area of interaction with the public, but that will soon change,” said Sue Crites-Szostak, library director. “The timeline is going to be that we hope construction is completed by mid-January, and by the beginning of February, we are able to open up.”

Szostak went on to comment on how the building itself will make the work proceed quickly.

“It’s really a remodel rather than a full construction because fortunately, we have a building that we could afford that didn’t require a lot of construction,” she said. “This building is built on a slab and it’s a steel building, so all the walls in fact are not load bearing, so as a result they can be taken out as we need in order to do what we need as a library.”

The work on the facility was put up for bid, but only one bid was submitted.

“We had hoped we’d get several bids. We only got one. And the bid we got was from C.E. Norton. We’re very glad to work with C.E. Norton because we know they are a highly respected construction company in Poplar Bluff,” she said.

Szostak was pleased with the submitted bid.

“The price was about what we expected it to be and it’s what we wanted to be,” she said,

Work on the project has occurred in phases.

Phase one was opening the building, and only the lobby was opened first.. Phase two was getting a locker system installed and opening the east side of the building.

Phase three is the construction and getting the whole building open.

“Phase four will be when we get all the final furnishings that we need to be able to operate and function as a full-service library,” Szostak added. “Phase four will probably go on for another year. We’re going to try to use both our budget and raise monies, as well as being able to get the best deal we can get for our furnishings.”

To say that Szostak is excited about this project would be an understatement.

“It goes to show you that we are growing and we’re moving forward with the promises made when the sales tax was passed in 2012 to provide more service to this community, and I think we’re reaching that promise,” she said.

The locker system mentioned in phase two allows current patrons to hold items from the main library by calling or by utilizing the card catalog system they have online. Items can also be requested from Missouri Evergreen, a resource-sharing consortium for libraries in the State of Missouri. Once the hold is placed, the item is transferred to the new facility and placed in an electronic locker system the user can access by inserting their library card in the locker and retrieving their held item. During the actual phase three construction/remodel, the locker system will be closed, but the hope is the branch can remain open.

This is the first time services have expanded to a branch beyond the main library on Main Street. As to why there is a pressing need for the new facility and the importance of it geographically, Szostak said, “This location gives another avenue of service to this community.

“Back when the library opened in 1916, and in 1936 when the main branch opened, the library was within less than a half mile of every public school in this town. As time has gone on, we are as much as a mile to two miles to the nearest school and in some places six, seven, or even eight miles. This location puts us almost in the center of a lot of schools.”

It also puts library services close to Three Rivers College, a great library partner.

“We are going to be smack dab in the middle where we can provide service to these children and to these students that need library materials,” Szostak said.

In this era full of digital options for the written word, some may question whether a library has a place in today’s tech driven society, but Szostak has this to offer on the importance of a municipal library.

“The one beauty of a library is it’s always free,” she said