This story originally appeared on yachatsnews.com and is being used with permission.
The Yachats Library closed its doors to the public this week as volunteers began boxing up and moving some of the collection to Room 8 in the Commons for up to a year.
The temporary location will open May 29, when patrons can resume browsing a much smaller collection of books and some periodicals. The new library set-up could continue for as long as one year, as contractors tear down the old structure and erect a new, bigger library on the West Seventh Street site.
The move means these changes for library patrons:
- Hours will be noon to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
- Some 850 new and frequently-borrowed adult books, 400-500 children’s books, and some current periodicals, will be available. The collection formerly numbered about 18,000 items.
- The blue metal returns box will be positioned at the end of the access ramp by the north side Commons door.
- No large print titles, books on tape or DVDs will be available.
- Only two computers will be available, possibly with time limits, plus a printer.
Because Room 8 is less than half the size of the current, 50-year-old building, much of the collection not being moved will be shrink-wrapped, put on pallets and stored in a Waldport warehouse.
Students from Angell Job Corps are helping volunteers move the boxes of books and other materials to the Commons.
While the Library Commission has been mulling a facility expansion for five years, it was just weeks ago that the City Council kicked things into high gear. In allocating $600,000 in urban renewal district proceeds for a new $1.46 million library building, the council ensured that the library would not lose as much as $270,000 in grants for a new, bigger structure. The current library is 2,400 square feet; the new facility will add another 1,200 square feet.
As soon as the council okayed the funds, it was suddenly “go” time for the Library Commission, administrator and volunteers.
“Racehorses out of the starting gate”
“After nearly half a year of not knowing if this project could move forward, suddenly it’s like multiple racehorses out of the starting gate,” said Library Commission chair David Rivinus. “To watch everyone participate with such enthusiasm is inspiring. We have a truly amazing team.”
“While this project and our temporary move to the Commons has happened rather quickly, it’s been years in the making,” said library administrator Traci Altson. “This an exciting time for the library and we look forward to reopening next year in a beautiful new building with a community room.”
Patrons who place “holds” on books via the library’s online system will still be able to do so. But the “holds” will apply only to the books relocated to the Commons, not to the entire collection.
The about-to-be-former library building is slated for demolition around July 1. The contractor, King West of Corvallis, said the whole building may come down in less than a week. Then preparations begin for building the new facility.
“We want the shell up before the rains start in the fall,” Rivinus said at a volunteers’ meeting Monday. That’s the plan and the hope, he indicated. Asked about the contractor’s timetable, he told YachatsNews, “Projects like this that don’t encounter significant glitches during construction typically take from nine months to about a year.”
Upgrades to the existing building had been mulled for years by the Library Commission, which had intended to renovate and expand the West Seventh Street structure. That cost was pegged at just over $1 million.
But last fall, soil tests disclosed that the building’s foundation couldn’t support the planned changes without incurring major extra costs. It would be less expensive, according to the project’s design company, to tear down the old building and erect a new one at the current location. Price tag — an estimated $1.46 million, some $500,000 more than was budgeted.
The commission considered moving to a new site entirely, but that idea evaporated in mid-April. That was when the City Council opted to move funds around and designate $600,000 for the new structure.