Christmas, the Move, Closings and the Theater Event

Currently, the staff at the Lake Blackshear Regional Library is working on floor plans for our Tripp Street future home. It is not as easy as it may seem. We must put the offices, the workroom, the front desk, the collection all in the most functional places - and that is just on paper. These offices and workroom must then be built.

We visited the Tripp Street building today to see what progress had been made. We noticed a fire wall going up toward the back of the building - remember, this is a 100,000 square foot building. The fire wall seems to be right in the center of the building spanning the width of the structure which is 200 feet. The back wall for our space has yet to be built. We noticed new heating and air units inside. While we were there workers were busy...working. It was exciting to see!

The library will be closed Monday, the 24th, Tuesday, the 25th and Wednesday, the 26th. We will also be closed New Year's Day. Most, if not all of us will be back January 2nd. We will be busy packing up our office things. The company we are using for the move will not be responsible for moving our personal stuff. Our last day for business at our present site will be Saturday, January 5th. The following Monday we move to Tripp.

The library will be closed to the public beginning Monday, January 7th through Monday, January 21st (Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday). We will reopen at Tripp Street Tuesday, January 22nd. We will have the book drop available somewhere. That sounds a bit funny - but we have not decided where at this time. There will be construction work and equipment at the library on Lamar, so I doubt we will have patrons leaving anything there. Stay tuned for that information.

Finally, we have been asked about the theater event that is performed every year around the last week in January. The event will occur, but will be moved back a week - it will begin Friday, February 1st, continue Saturday, February 2nd and finish up Sunday February 3rd. Repeat - the theater event WILL take place. Right now we are looking at having the event in our new home - this may change, of course we will let you know.

That's it for now.

Stay tuned, finish shopping and read a book.

Grant Award For LBRL!

On December 6, the Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) announced the Lake Blackshear Regional Library winners of a Major Repair and Renovations grant for the Fiscal Year 2008. GPLS Library Facilities, Planning and Construction Director Nathan Rall informed LBRL Director Anne Isbell of the award which will be used to finish carpeting and painting the interior of the library and to construct a new roof.

The construction project which will remove the entire front part of the library building will only repaint and recarpet the area affected by the damage from the March tornado. The rest of the library will not be repainted or recarpeted as part of that project. This grant, however, will complete the painting and carpeting work.
The same goes for the roof, which is about fifteen-years-old. This grant will allow the library to receive a complete new roof rather than a partially repaired roof.

Keep in mind the library will be closed to the public for about two weeks in January. The two weeks will begin January 7. It is possible we may be able to reopen before the two weeks, but we are planning to be closed for that time. We wish we could stay open, but with movers coming and going there would be safety concerns if were open to the public. We are sorry for that inconvenience. By the end of January we will be in our new home and be able to provide all the services we have had in the past.

A Look At Our New Home

Renovations are continuing at the old Manhattan Shirt Factory building on Tripp Street in Americus. We recently visited the building to see what was going on. Looking at the photos it is hard to imagine what the inside of the building will look like in about six weeks. We are currently working, deciding where we want the different sections of the collection to be located in the new building. Some of the decisions, if not all depend somewhat on where the different offices will be. We would like to have the children's coordinator near the children's collection, etc. Soon, we will have the logistical questions answered and be ready for the move.

Moving Date(s)?

Finally, we have been given a date for the move - January 7th or 8th. The people who will be moving us will begin work one of those days moving just about everything out of our present location on Lamar Street. We will be moving to the old Manhattan Shirt Factory building on Tripp Street in Americus. Though the movers will do most of the work, our staff will still have to move personal belongings and office "things." We will almost certainly be closed to the public those days. We will announce this as soon as possible.

Please remember to bring your library card to the library. Since we will be moving to PINES, we have decided not to reorder any Lake Blackshear library cards. Most people will be acquiring new PINES cards. Until we move to PINES, we are issuing temporary cards.

We will be closing Thanksgiving Day, November 22 and reopening Monday, November 26.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

A New Home

After much looking and thinking we have decided the best place for us to move is the old Manhattan Shirt Factory building on Tripp Street. We have, of course, toured the building - it offers us plenty of room. We actually will be using 20,000 square feet which is just 4,000 square feet less than we have at our building. The building's owner will be making renovations to make us as comfortable as possible - monetarily and physically.

Though nothing is set, it looks like we will begin moving some small things into the building within the next few weeks or so. It looks like, however, we will not be able to move into the building until January. It is estimated the work on our building will take eight months. Needless to say, there are factors like weather that will make this estimate accurate or not. Right now, we are looking at eight months.



We have posted some pictures of cracks in some of our walls at our library. These three photos were taken in the front part of the library which will be repaired.


Tuesday 6 November 2007 Chad Cioban(left) of the Cincinnati Insurance Companies presented our Director, Anne Isbell with a check to cover the repairs to the library. Mr. Cioban, an insurance adjuster, worked closely with our insurance agent, Mike Denham(right) of the Denham Agency of Americus.

Getting Closer

Not much has changed since Monday the 29th. We are still looking at buildings. We have, however, narrowed the field to just a few. It looks as though we may make a decision within the next week or so.

Once we are moved out, we understand the one million dollar project will commence in two phases. It has been explained to us the March tornado twisted our building just enough to cause structural damage. Repairing this damage will have to be done one section at a time. These sections appear to be the front right and front left of the library - about twenty or so feet back on each of those sides. We have been informed the project may take at least eight months. It should be an interesting 2008 at the Lake Blackshear Regional Library.

Stay tuned!!

MOVING SOON

29 October 2007 Monday

The Lake Blackshear Regional Library will be moving soon. We are in the process of locating a suitable building. Some of what we must look for include square footage, floor strength, easy accessibility, including parking and handicapped accessibility, and overall strength of the structure. Once we have done this we will meet with our insurance adjuster to see what is feasible.

So far we have toured four buildings and "eyeballed" many more. We should meet with our adjuster soon. Please keep checking the blog for information. We plan to post to this blog during the entire process which includes our return to 307 East Lamar Street.