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September 25, 2009
Denville library reopening after renovations
By Eugene Paik/For The Star-Ledger
September 24, 2009, 7:04PM
The Denville library should reopen Friday after a renovation shut down most of the 25-year-old building for about nine months.
Since January, construction crews had been gutting the Diamond Spring Road building and reconfiguring it to provide more efficiency in its use of space.
The library remained open for most of the construction time, even though the main entrance was blocked off to the public. A limited selection of books, movies and music was available in a meeting room at the rear of the library.
The building shut down completely in recent weeks so that the meeting room could be redone.
This was the first renovation for the 10,000-square-feet building in at least a decade, according to library director Elizabeth Kanouse.
She described the new interior as a drastic change, saying it offers features demanded by its users.
“It’s a complete transformation,” she said.
Previously just a big room, the main section of the library is now partitioned into sections. The reference and adult sections are separated, and the children’s area is now blocked off.
“The older people wanted it to keep the noise down,” Kanouse said of the new children’s section, “and the parents wanted it to let their children be children but not disturb anyone.”
Also, the library replaced its furniture and carpet and doubled the number of computers, she said. The library now offers 16 computers.
The $1.6 million project, funded by a bond ordinance approved by the township council last year, should be enough to satisfy library patrons for another decade, Kanouse said.
But after that, a bigger library might be needed to match an expected increase in the town’s population, she said.
“Hopefully, the economy will be better by then, and people will be ready,” she said.
Posted by tumulty at September 25, 2009 12:29 PM
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