Shelves Are Done

The shelving project was completed last Friday, and the library staff was ready to put all the juvenile books back on the new shelves. It truly was an exciting moment for all of us here at the Colfax library.

First thing we realized was, yikes, we have more book space! After getting all the books back on the shelves, we ended up moving and re-moving the books around to even out the shelf space. You know, the wood stain blends in so well with the existing wood that most people who come in to the library don't even realized we replaced the shelves! Don't you think they would notice the strong varnish smell??? Well, we librarians notice it every day! Can't wait until the smell subsides.

Happy books, happy librarians.....that sums it all up!

They Finally Arrived

The shelves arrived this morning, 7 am! This is the first time I've gotten to see the new shelves. Wow.....so nice and the wood grain is beautiful! It took about an hour to move all all six shelving units into the library. Our carpenter (and his wife) did a great job slowly moving the units into the building, one by one.

I couldn't stand to look at that bare wall yesterday, so I'm very happy today to see all the richness of the wood return. Honestly, there is no comparison of metal shelves verses wood shelves. Wood is number one with me, and has always been the theme for our historic Colfax Public Library.

Luckily, we were able to move the Internet computers about 12 inches so our carpenter had plenty of room to work without bumping into customers. If customers don't mind the mess and noise, they are welcome to come in and use the public computers. Not the most ideal situation, but it works for now.

This is just phase one of our changes happening here at our library. The electricans started upgrading the electrical in our entire building this week. The windows on the third floor level will soon be uncovered and the windows will be reglazed, with storm windows added. Our library will also have the front (east) window totally replaced and the side windows (south) will all be reglazed, asbetos removed and storm windows added. No more cold winter drafts for the librarians to deal with! I'm also hoping the new window work will solve the problem with lots of wasps that find their way into our library in the fall and spring.

Lastly, the building will receive a new roof, which will help with water leakage during the winter/spring. Old buildings are wonderful, but they also come with lots of problems!

Construction Has Begun!

Good-bye old ugly radiators!!!!! On Monday, the plumbers came and removed all four radiators from our library. Now that we have a new heating system, we no longer need the silver radiators. I waved good-bye and said "hello" to the 21 century!

By Monday afternoon, the local carpenter came in to begin his construction project that involved taking down the entire south wall of the juvenile shelving.....juvenile fiction and non-fiction collections. Wow, the wall looks so spacious after removing 2,000 books!

So where did all that old wood go? Awwwwh that's me, the little library director, hauling loads of wood downstairs in the municipal basement. I got my exercise for the day....and mighty dirty too. Really glad I had that extra pair of running shoes in the closet!

After the entire wall was stripped yesterday, the new shelves will go up beginning tomorrow, Wednesday. I am so excited to see the brand new custom built oak shelves.....should be amazing.

Besides the carpenter work (which is funded by the library), our municipal building is also in the first stage of a large federal grant to restore and upgrade the windows, electrical and much more. Construction started today and will continue through the month of October. Nothing will be normal for several months, but we've prepared ourselves.

No access to the juvenile books.....sorry kids, but all this mess will be worth it in the end. Stay tuned, I'll be documenting all the changes. With all the stress of construction, the librarians would appreciate some treats from the public.....chocolate chip cookies would be nice......maybe some brownies!!!!

Caution!

The Internet computers will be unavailable the week of August 22 - 25 due to a construction project in the library. The library will remain open, however, we are asking library customers to please keep their library visit short in order for our construction project to proceed quickly and smoothly.

Thanks for your patience!

Colfax Public Library Staff

"Be a Smart Cookie....READ!"

Story time kids can participate in our promotional reading program...."Be a Smart Cookie, READ!" How it works.....

• Kids get a chart on which to write books down that they have read.


• For every book read, a "cookie" will be added to a giant cookie jar on the wall in the kids area.


• When we read 100 books collectively, we will have a party and eat cookies and other munchies while we watch a short movie!

To get a reading record, attend story time at the Colfax Public Library, on Wednesday mornings at 10:00am, starting September 7th.

Guilt Free Reads

Once in a while it is fun to highlight staff "reads." This stack happened to be waiting for me today at the library. I spent some time last week, on my day off, browsing through a local bookstore that is going out of business. Of course, I found plenty of books I would have loved to purchase and initially I did have a giant stack in my arms, but the tightness of my pocketbook won out and I ended up putting all but a few favorites back on the shelf.

As I was working online that evening at home, I thought....huh, I bet the MORE will have those titles I wanted to read. Sure enough, I found every single one! I added them all to my online book cart and requested to my heart's content.....guilt free.

I did a little figuring. I took the number of books I read last year (around 150 books, both fiction and nonfiction titles), times an average price of $20.00 per book (the middle ground of a hardback and softcover) and found that I would have had to spend, conservatively, around $3,000 dollars to purchase all those books. I am SO thankful for the library. Otherwise, I would be broke simply feeding my reading need.

If you are an avid reader and library user, let your library know how thankful you are for them!

Jenny

Youth Services Librarian