It’s brightly colored, open, airy – and is now better connected to adjacent Elmwood Park via large picture windows and an outdoor deck. Three million dollars and eleven months later Roanoke City’s main library branch on Jefferson Street reopened a month ahead of schedule. The remodel, which entailed most but not all of the building (the rest comes later) is part of the city’s plan to makeover all of its neighborhood branches.
The Raleigh Court public library branch is now closed; that three million dollar-plus project will double the size to around 14,000 square feet, director of Library Services Sheila Umberger said at the main branch ribbon cutting that it should also be completed in a year or less. “People want access to their [local] library,” she noted.
As for the downtown branch, an extra 2500 sq. feet was added to the 54,000 sq. ft space when a storage room wall was taken down and a mezzanine was added. From that space children can use a slide to reach the ground floor.
Primary colors are used throughout and large panels with Roanoke scenes greet patrons when they come in from Jefferson Street, also acting as a noise damper. “I think there’s a lot of ‘wow’ factor [now] in the building,” said Umberger. “We’ve really thought things through as far as technology.” Umberger said the biggest change might be combining all of the adult services in one area, including books and computer services, and a similar consolidation of children’s services in another space.
When the Elmwood Park amphitheater was built, Umberger saw an opportunity to draw the library closer to the park and its green space next door. “It’s really made a huge difference by taking out walls. [Now] we can actually be part of the park.”
Libraries, of course, are no longer just a place to check out books, and Roanoke’s main branch recognizes that now, with more rooms for meetings, more electrical outlets for laptops and that outdoor patio space.
Those who thought the Internet might doom traditional libraries were wrong, said Umberger: “There’s so much information [now available] and people come to us to help sort that out. People at the end of the day still want a book – whether it’s an E-book or a hardback book. Our goal …is to supply what people need. We’ve become a community center.”
The ability to supply that information for free – especially for those that can’t afford it or don’t have access to computers- should mean that libraries remain a vital core service, said Umberger.
Up next after the Raleigh Court expansion will be changes at the Melrose branch; Gainsboro and Jackson Park were previously remodeled.
Roanoke City Mayor David Bowers noted at the ribbon cutting that City Council had made a commitment to upgrading neighborhood branches after veering away from a previous plan to perhaps close some smaller branches and open a “Super Branch” once targeted for Peters Creek Road.
Roanoke City manager Chris Morrill said education and economic development are “major goals for the city. Libraries ten years ago – people thought you didn’t need them any more [but] they’ve become our community centers. These investments are going to build stronger neighborhoods and introduce more kids to reading. In the long run they make us a stronger community.”
The main branch used to be “kind of dark and small …[with a] cramped feeling,” said Morrill. “I think [patrons are] going to be amazed at what you can do when you recycle an old building like this.”
– Gene Marrano
