Patrons laud newly expanded library
By Rachael Scarborough King
Sept. 6, 2008
GUILFORD — Workers were still putting on the finishing touches, but patrons began filling the Guilford Free Library again Friday morning after a 15-month absence.
Following an $8 million expansion that nearly doubled the facility’s space to 34,000 square feet, the Park Street library opened to the public Friday. As patrons arrived — greeted at the front door with cookies and juice — they expressed nearly universal delight with the sunny rooms, larger spaces and high-tech equipment.
The expanded library includes a larger children’s section with a custom-built playhouse, brand-new computers, a new reading and periodicals room, public meeting spaces and more office space. The entire building is now handicapped accessible.
Library Director Sandra Ruoff said the goal of the construction project was to both solve the facility’s space problems and update its technology.
“It was to meet the needs of a larger town, but also to meet the informational needs,” Ruoff said. “I think the reading room is my favorite part because it looks like a quote-unquote old-fashioned library, while the rest of the library is really cutting edge.”
The original section of the building dates from 1933; an addition was added in 1977. The 75-year-old section of the building now serves as a historical room for the town’s archives.
Ruoff noted that the new wing is mostly hidden from the street by a next-door building that fronts the Guilford Green.
“The way the new addition fits on the Green, it doesn’t look too big,” she said. “The 1933 building juts out and that’s like the jewel.”
Several rooms in the two-story library are still missing light fixtures and easy chairs, but Ruoff said she wanted to open doors as soon as possible.
During construction, the library operated out of a temporary facility on Carter Drive, which closed at the end of July so staff could move the library’s collection back to the Park Street building.
Nancy Gerhardy, a longtime patron visiting the library Friday, called the expansion “spectacular.”
“I had no idea it could be this big,” she said. “It still looks so intimate and small, and you come in — it’s huge, it’s amazing.”
Joyce Galehouse said she lives nearby and noticed the open sign while jogging Friday morning. She returned later in the day with her 3 1/2-year-old son, Noah Pakutka.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s great — it’s much bigger and there’s good computer games for the kids.”
Ruoff said the designers tried to keep many details from the old building. For example, the interior decorating scheme is largely the same and the counter from a former circulation desk has been transformed into a bench at the rear entrance.
“We thought that was a very timeless look,” she said. “The library needed to be expanded, but the colors worked well.”
