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MURRAY – The Calloway County Public Library Board of Trustees received disappointing news related to the ongoing expansion and renovation project at its meeting Tuesday, later voting to delay re-opening the library until the entire project is complete. 

There are two issues at present preventing officials from issuing a certificate of temporary occupancy for the newly-constructed addition. For one, the sprinkler system is still not up and running due to issues with getting the right size pump to run the system. Anthony Parsons from 5253 Design Group advised that one has been located; however, it cannot be shipped, which means someone will have to drive to Philadelphia to pick it up.

While that is causing some delays, it should not prevent the library from opening as planned on March 27. The real issue is related to the adult book stacks, which had to be moved out of the original building while it is being renovated. At present, the adult stacks are set up in the new addition, but due to limited space, the stacks are too close together for the building inspector to allow the public to walk between them. Until the adult books can be returned to the original building, the only way for the library to be open would be to close those sections off to the public; however, library staff would be allowed to walk between the stacks to pull books for patrons.

Originally, the plan was to resume services in the new addition while the renovation of the old building was being completed. CCPL Executive Director Mignon Rutledge explained that, in following that plan, the library would have to temporarily close three more times before the project is completed – once to pave the parking lot, once to move the adult stacks back into the original building and once for the staff to be trained on how to operate the highly sophisticated heating and cooling system.

Given the obstacles, Rutledge requested that the board postpone re-opening until the entire project is complete.

“I’m really, really disappointed,” Trustee Debbie Bell said immediately. “We have been advertising March 27, March 27, and people, every day, stop me and say, ‘Oh, I’m so excited. I’m so glad that we’re going to see what’s inside.’ … I haven’t seen it yet, but my gut reaction is that partially-opened so that people can see it and visit and children can check out books is better than going to the basement at the Church of Christ. I just want, as much as possible, to do what we said we were going to do.”

Board Chair Lance Allison and Trustee Levi Weatherford said that trying to open with so much work left to be done will only slow down the process. Weatherford added that he thought members of the public coming in and out of the building constantly would inhibit the movement and progress of the construction crew. At Rutledge’s suggestion, the board left the meeting room and went into the library to see the logistical issue with their own eyes.

“Number one is a safety issue, so let’s just say that; number two is a perception issue,” Allison said. “This library board has been dealing for a long time with perception issues on whether to build a new building, how much a new building is going to cost. Now we have this beautiful new building that’s about to be finished, and I don’t want somebody walking in here and (seeing it unfinished). First impressions matter. … I don’t want to halfway this. We haven’t yet.”

Community members who were present at the meeting chimed in as well. Reika Ebert, who is a Friends of the Library member and library volunteer, suggested opening the library a couple of days each week with reduced hours and offering limited services, much like CCPL has been doing for Remote Service Days. Phyllis Miller and Ann Landini, on the other hand, said they thought it would be best to wait.

“When I walk in here, all I can think of is this is so beautiful, and I don’t want anybody in this county to come in here and see a scrambled-up mess of stuff,” Miller said. “I want them to walk in here and see a beautiful, finished library. I don’t want, ‘You can’t go in that corner because of so and so, and you can’t go in the restroom down there because they’re moving stuff.’ I want them to see it in all of its glory.”

“The thing for me is the safety and the parking lot,” Rutledge said. “I mean, we’re still under construction.”

“I make a motion to open the library when the construction is complete,” Weatherford said. “I agree with the ladies that have been with us through all this mess over the past few years that first impressions are everything. I don’t want people coming in here, picking at this and picking at that. I want them to come in and be amazed at it.”

By a 4-1 vote, the board decided to keep the library closed until the entire project is complete. Parsons advised that the new project completion date is between June 1 and June 14.

“I know that I get in a hurry about things, but I feel like we kind of made a promise that we’re not going to keep, and I hate that,” Bell said after the vote.

CCPL will continue to host Remote Service Days until services can resume at the library. They are currently being held on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the University Church of Christ. Rutledge advised that there may be some adjustments as to when and where Remote Service Days will be held after March 27, noting she has asked the University Church of Christ if they can still be held in the church’s basement but had not heard back as of Wednesday afternoon. Updates about when and where Remote Service Days will be held will be provided on CCPL’s Facebook page.

In the construction update, Parsons advised that, while many of the windows have been installed, there has been a delay in getting the hardware necessary to hang the doors. The renovation portion of the project is moving ahead of schedule at the moment. Parsons said framing should begin soon.

The board approved Pay Application #19 to Adams Construction in the amount of $31,969.66 and (deductive) Change Order #31 for direct purchase orders in the amount of $16,351.89. Parsons noted around $1.3 million remains on the contract.

The next board meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11, at the library.

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