LEBANON — After a decade of planning, the Lebanon Library — its staff, patrons, and community members — celebrated a series of new renovations on Saturday that addressed long-standing issues such as safety, accessibility, sustainability and cosmetic updates to the building.
The library, originally built in 1909 and located adjacent to Colburn Park, is “where people can find support and aid and good books,” said programming and outreach librarian Celeste Pfeiffer, 33, of Hartford.
The renovations, which were completed over the past year and mostly during the pandemic, include expanded and improved public meeting spaces, a new central staircase providing easier navigation between floors, additional bathrooms and a caregiver’s room, updated lighting and carpeting, and more.
“One of our goals was to make sure that we had more quiet space,” library deputy director Amy Lappin said.
A new study room, donated by the Rotary Club of Lebanon, and an “arcade” study space complete with a Nintendo Switch and wall-mounted television, helped to achieve this goal and can be booked for use online.
Though brainstorming and some smaller projects for the library’s renovations had been in the works for a few years, an architect wasn’t consulted until 2019, when it became clear that construction expertise was needed before any significant changes could be made.
“We made these incremental improvements,” library director Sean Fleming told me. “It showed the community that we could invest in the building and it would make it more usable.”
“It’s so wonderful to see the goals of the community (happen) finally,” Pfeiffer said. “It’s really beautiful to see that effort of accessibility be expressed.”
Improvements included shifting the front circulation desk to accommodate patrons with mobility constraints, installing heat pumps and an air filtration system, and expanding the granite step in front of the main door to make the library entrance safer to access.
Cosmetic updates also add a new visual appeal and excitement, especially in the children’s room.
“This room, in particular, is so full of joy and childlike energy,” Pfeiffer said, pointing out the colorful lights and geometric patterns on the carpets.
Prior to the renovations in 2021, the library hadn’t seen many upgrades like this since 1985.
Saturday’s celebration featured short speeches from Lebanon Library Foundation president Pat Hayes, Mayor Tim McNamara, deputy director Lappin, library board trustee chair Fran Oscadal, and library director Fleming.
On the front lawn, around 40 visitors gathered for free lemonade and kettle corn, to hear speakers’ remarks, to view the official ribbon cutting in front of the library’s doors, and to visit its recently renovated interior.
“It was wisely decided that we had to preserve this gorgeous landmark,” Hayes said, pointing to the library behind him during his speech.
Of about 2 million spent on the new renovations, $300,000 was raised through donations, Hayes said. The remainder came from taxpayer dollars.
“This surpassed our original goal,” Hayes said. “That’s why we’re here today, to thank you all.”
McNamara reflected on the positive influence the public library had on him as a child growing up in Lebanon in the ’60s.
“(It) was truly my window to the world,” he said. “Books were everything to me and I devoured them by the hundreds.”
“Library construction can be complicated,” Fran Oscadal told me later.
Oscadal, 72, of Lebanon, used to work for Dartmouth College campus libraries. He said “seemingly simple” changes can go a long way in a library, especially a public one.
A public library serves a greater purpose than just books, he said; rather, it “serves a lot of social functions,” Oscadal said.
“You have the housed and the unhoused, people of all economic backgrounds, people who just want to come in for a book but people who also want to stay to have a conversation,” Oscadal said. “(The library) really is a part of the social fabric of the community.”
Six-year-old Yara Harmon lives in Lebanon and comes to the library with her mother, Hayley Very, 33, to check out books that she reads at home.
“I Can Read!” books are some of her favorites, or anything about cats and puppies, she said.
The children’s room in the library, which received updates as a part of the recent renovations, is much more inviting and accessible now for families, Very said.
Harmon also takes advantage of the library’s “art box,” where community members drop off art supplies that they no longer need and are able to take home someone else’s art supply, a kind of exchange.
“Public libraries are one of the best parts about living in this country,” said Very, who grew up going to her local public library with her mother. “The fact that everyone is welcome is special.”
Rose Terami can be reached at rosoterami@gmail.com.