Lake Blackshear Regional Library Renovation

Moving The Last Bit

2008-12-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

I decided I would show the last photos we have from Manhattan. Although we are in at LB, I decided to blog this first before I begin with LB. Here are the photos taken the week of December 8.

Our workroom located behind the front desk. It was packed with everyone's desk, several shelves and several tables.

Looking at the back wall where the magazines and newspapers were located.

Looking from where the stacks used to be. Fiction and non-fiction were found in this area. The photo is shot back towards the front desk.

This photo is just to the right of the previous one. It is towards what used to be the computer sign up desk. When we went to PINES there was no longer a need to sign up.

From the side door looking into the library. Okay, what used to be the library.

The actual last load to leave Manhattan - other than the desk.

The workroom again. Almost empty.

Emptying out

The area that housed the children's books.

I will take photos one last time of Manhattan this week. Of course, it will be almost empty. We still have some shelves and desks we are selling - but except for that, it will be empty. I'll have alot more to say when I blog with those photos. Until then...

More Photos

2008-12-06T04:04:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday!!! And we're here...at the library!!! Not home sleeping or watching football or whatever, but here. Actually it's fine. It's interesting to watch the library take shape. We have a different look. We've moved things around just enough to make things look different. I have mentioned the new Young Adult (YA) section before. It will be located where the public access computers used to be. The computers were moved out into what used to be the reference section. Reference has been consolidated and moved to the back corner of the library. The videos and audio books which were in the front lobby across the room from the magazines are now located behind the computers in the old reference section.

In the Children's Library, the biggest change is in the back arts and crafts room. No longer is there a glass window wall to separate the trolley from the arts and crafts room. It is all one big room. The trolley has been moved away from the window and is now located a few feet away against the west wall. This opens up the front window for more light. What a difference!! Our Children and Youth Coordinator Beth Tanner can now use the big room to do more things. She can always have story time but can also show movies and have other activities. This will be a great place. The children's library will be opened up a little as we move one set of reference shelves out. It's subtle, but effective.

Today the movers will be bringing books that go in our compact shelving in the back. Yesterday, last night they brought 22 carts of books and have 23 more to load up, bring over and unload to the shelves. Then they will begin with the children's library.

Well, I just realized I have not taken any photos of the arts and crafts room, so off I go. You'll see them below.

More later...

Just a look at both top and bottom or fiction and non-fiction.

Our workroom taking shape???

The video and audio book section which has beem moved from the front lobby to the back lobby.

A big look at the lobby.

The new computer area!!

The video and audio book area behind the computers.

Another look at the computers.

The Young Adult area so far. Remember, the computers used to be back here. We called it the cave.

The Trolley Room or rather the Arts and Crafts Room. Moving the trolley really has opened up the room.

This photo is taken from the window of the old trolley room. Note there is no glass wall anymore.

Area to the left of the trolley. This is where movies might be shown.

From the cabinets back towards the window - much more room. There is still some work to do here. There will be flooring put down next week. We are excited about this room!!

Two photos of the children's library.

Middle of the Move - Day 4

2008-12-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday, 4 December 2008 - we are in the middle of the move. As you will see from the photos below, all of fiction and non-fiction are OUT of Manhattan and IN Lake Blackshear. This leaves a big empty space in the Manhattan warehouse. I would say the guys are about a third of the way done. Keep in mind the books are the easiest things to move - at least as far as organization goes. The books come off the shelf and then go back on the shelf. It's very easy to follow (we try to make it hard on them, but sometimes our ideas don't pan out). They will eventually begin moving things that go all over the library: children's area, offices, workroom, server room, PINES area, mail area, etc. They will be working through the weekend. Needless to say, we are all southerners and will not miss the Alabama - Florida game Saturday at 4:30. The moving crew is based out of Jacksonville and are mostly Gator fans while our director Anne Isbell is a graduate of Alabama. Hmmmmmm...interesting!! Let's see, she signs my paycheck...GO BAMA!!!!!

The shelves are in in the Special Collections Room.

Lake Blackshear is filling up. I'll try to get photos from this same spot as we hit the weekend.

The non-fiction area is ready for books.

The crew loading up from Manhattan.

Manhattan beginning to empty out.

Same as above. Remember, this is a huge room - 20,000 square feet.

This is a shot of the NEW reference section at Lake Blackshear. It is located in the back corner. The reference area used to be out in front of old computer sign-up desk. That area will now be for the computers.

Non-fiction with books!

Looking more and more like we never left.

This is the area at Manhattan where the fiction and non-fiction books were located. As you can see - they're gone!

Same as the photo above.

Just a shot of the many, many boxes to be moved and then unpacked.

This is a photo of the workroom at Mahattan. Man, this room has all kinds of stuff to pack. So far so good. Oh, like everything else that's packed - we have to unpack this stuff!!

I will blog again tomorrow and really through the weekend. Okay, back to work!!

2008-12-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

It is Wednesday 3 December 2008. We are in the third day of moving and everything is going just as it is supposed to go. We will open to the public Monday morning 15 December 2008 at 10:00. We will be back at The Lake Blackshear Regional Library at 307 East Lamar Street in Americus.

Below are some photos from the first moving day.

A hole needed to be cut into the back wall so the movers could get to the storage area. We have not used all of the shelves we had at Lake Blackshear. We will use them all when we get back. We also stored much of the bookmobile collection back there.

The hole was cut by people who worked for the building owner. Monday morning the movers arrived from High Springs, Florida. These are the same guys who moved us in January.

At Manhattan we have the familiar site of bookcarts all over the place. These carts are huge which enables the movers to put many rows of books. As before, they load up, go to Lake Blackshear and unload.

More carts!

A photo of the books being put on the shelves in the fiction section upstairs at Lake Blackshear.

Wow!! This actually looks normal - at least upstairs.

One of my favorite photos. When we first came into Manhattan I noticed in the cracks of the floor buttons and pins leftover from the shirt factory days. The building has a long history. No telling how long these buttons have been there. Pretty cool stuff!!

Just Some Photos

2008-11-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

We are labeling everything that is to go back to Lamar Street. We are doing this to make it as easy as possible for the movers to put things in the correct places at LB. If we set shelves in the wrong place it takes much work to move them again. Once is enough, huh? We have a diagram of the library which has areas designated - this way all of the library employees and movers know where things are to go. We aren't putting everything back as it was. That would be too easy!!

Yes, we have a "days until we move" tear off. Actually as I write this there are six days...but who's counting!!

A couple of folks are getting new desks. Some of the desks are really old. This photo is from our administrative assistant's office. While we have been here, her office always seems to be the place we put stuff like this. It's funny, we're in a warehouse, you'd think it could be put anywhere, right?

It really helps to be next to a store that has lots of boxes. Hmmmm...

Next week we are open only Monday through Wednesday, November 24 - 26. We will close at 6pm Wednesday. When we lock up that night we will not be open again to the public until Monday morning, December 15th at 10:30. More blogging as we move back. It's almost over.

Reminiscing and a Plan

2008-11-13T12:28:00.001-08:00

It looks like we will be opening the Lake Blackshear Regional Library at 307 East Lamar Street at 10 am the morning of December 15. We finally have gotten a date. Finally!!! We will work at the old Manhattan building through Wednesday November 26. We will then break for Thanksgiving. The library will stay closed until we open December 15. We will have been away from East Lamar for approximately ten months or 304 days. As the song goes - "What a long strange trip it's been."

Thursday night, 1 March 2007, happened to be my night to work late. It was a horrible day for weather. I watch the weather regularly and knew the day would be tough. If I remember correctly, we had off and on sunshine that day. I believe we had a good breeze going and occasional rain. I watched several radar sites and watched the storm blow into Alabama. I read the stories about the students killed at the high school over there. I continued to watch that one storm. It looked like it would come near us. As 8 o'clock neared, I looked at the radar one last time and thought the storm would barely miss Americus. I live in Ellaville and did not think we would be in any trouble up there.

About 8:15 pm I locked the library and went to my car. I drove out of the parking lot across Lamar Street to Strife Street and down to Forsyth. I then turned left and headed for home. It never entered my mind that 45 minutes later a tornado would tear through the area. As I arrived home we watched the weather to see what would happen, if anything. The weather up there was not great, but it sure wasn't as bad as the hurricane that came through in 2005. A little after nine we began to hear reports of a tornado hitting Americus. We figured it was not that big of a deal. That deal changed when we saw the first pictures of Winn Dixie. Wow!!! We watched in amazement as report after report came over the television. I wondered what else had been hit or destroyed.

The next morning I received a call from Anne Isbell, our director. She had been able to "get in" to see the library. She said the library was okay. She went on to tell me there was a lot of damage around the library and further east. Indeed, every building on the south side of Lamar Street beginning just after the library had been damaged if not completely destroyed. We had just missed it. Dodged the bullet!!!

Once we were able to return to work and the business of cleaning up the town began, we noticed small cracks in some of the walls. Were those there before? We did not think so. We called some folks to look at it, including at least one engineer. We were assured the building was structurally sound and there was no danger. We continued working - business as usual.

As days passed we began to notice the cracks getting bigger. You can see the photos from one of the early blogs. A crew of folks came to look at it again. This time, however, we were told the building needed to be repaired. We were told we may have to move. How exciting! Well, maybe not. Perhaps they would be able to repair the library without our moving. As you know, we were eventually told we would have to leave. The entire front of the building going back about 20 or so feet on each side would have to be taken off and rebuilt. We would have to vacate. Now it would be easy for us to leave, but if we had to take everything - that's a different story. Of course, we knew we would. So, during the Fall of 2007 Anne Isbell, Linda Erkhart and I searched the city for a suitable temporary library.

We looked at many different places. Some of them were horrible - spider webs, no light, no where to park, no handicap accessibility, etc. We had decided on two places as finalist. I won't tell you where, but they were small. We thought we might be able to make it work. For several weeks we drove past the old Manhattan Shirt Factory building on Tripp Street thinking there was no way that place could be used. It had to be trashed inside - after all, it had been empty for hundreds of years! I don't know, twenty maybe? Anyway, we just knew it was in awful shape. I don't remember how we decided to check it out, but we did. We went in and looked and were amazed to see how well kept it was. We knew right off this may work.

You know the rest of the story. In January, a library moving crew came and moved all of our stuff. Again, you can check out the earlier blogs. Ten months went by and here we are. We knew we would move before the end of the year and actually thought it may be sooner, but the first two weeks in December are the target.

So what happens now? It looks like the movers will not be here until the week of Thanksgiving or the following week. In the meantime, we have to pack up a lot of things. Our personal things are for us to pack and mostly move. I want to move my own things. The desk and the bookshelf in my office - they can move. Beginning tomorrow and continuing next week, we will tag every piece of furniture, cabinets, shelves, tables, chairs, etc. We will put tape on each item showing the movers where it will go in the library. We will have people over at LB to make sure everything gets where it is supposed to go. We figure it will be a lot easier moving back than moving away. For one thing, we already know where everything will go. We will put tape on the floor at LB with headings like the ones on the items - the movers will just match it up. We will then set everything up. It's that simple. I hope!!

So, we'll see how it goes the next few weeks. We cannot wait to get back! I will blog as much as I can - obviously, my computer will be gone for a short while. Perhaps I can shoot some of these off from home. I'll figure something out. Until next time...

Ten Month Difference

2008-11-05T10:26:00.001-08:00

After the tornado of 2 March 2007, it appeared the library had come through pretty good. Yes, we had debris around. Our dumpster cover was destroyed - other than that we were just on the edge of a major disaster area. We were actually okay. Soon, however, as we looked closer at our building we noticed cracks in the walls. All of them seemed to be in the front of the building. Engineers were brought in who told us there was no danger.

A little later, the cracks appeared to be getting bigger. Indeed, one crack eventually got so big we could see through it. Engineers came back and decided the library would have to be repaired. The front of the building and about twenty feet down each side would have to be completely taken off and rebuilt. We learned we would have to move everything out of the library into a new place.

As you know, we moved into the old Manhattan Shirt Factory Building on Tripp Street in Americus. What was left of Lake Blackshear was an empty building about to become a construction site. A few days before we moved everything out our Director Anne Isbell thought it would be a good idea to photograph everything so we could remember where things went for when we moved back. So, on 7 January 2008 I walked around the inside of Lake Blackshear and took pictures.

Below are many of the photos I took that day. These photos are the Before photos - meaning before the move. They are the photos to the left. To the right are photos taken 4 November 2008 (yesterday). These are the Later photos meaning they were taken later. When we get moved back in we will take a third set and compare all three.

I hope you enjoy just looking at things before we moved and how things look right now. I also hope you will notice the brightness of the new paint. The photos are grouped two at a time to compare.

Into November

2008-11-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

I have certainly taken alot of pictures, but I thought I would just update everyone without them. Later in the week or early next week I will show photos of the "new" library as it looks now. I will say the library is much brighter than it was. The new paint has definitely done the trick there.

It looks like everything is done except carpet and little odds and ends. Of course these odds and ends could take a short while. The library has been swept and cleaned up - not cleaned, just cleaned up - okay, picked up. It is November 4 as I write this and I certainly do not see why we cannot get back in by the end of this month. We will move, however, when the movers can get here to do it. I suppose we can begin moving our offices soon. Gosh, I sure hope so. We have been blessed with the building we have used, but it is not home and all of us want to get back soon - like last March.

I have tried to put together some comparative photos, but I have taken so many it is tough to go through them all. I do have about ten to fifteen I can put on next time. One thing I will be doing this week or next is taking comparable photos just like the ones I took before we moved. This way we can see what everything looked like before, sometime in the middle and as we are settled again. That is all for today. I just wanted to update you all.

If you enjoy looking at comparable photos please go to Atlanta Time Machine. This is a great site!! Most photos are from the 40s and 50s compared to now. It is really cool!!

Final Stretch

2008-10-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like we will be moving in November. We have visited Lake Blackshear several times recently and every time there seems to be much progress made. All of the windows are in. The front door, which was the last of the windows to be done is almost complete. There is a side door that was not done last week, but I believe it may be finished now. The thing that has excited us the most is the painting is at last being completed.

The color is Dover White. Yes, that is the color of the walls at the renovated lake Blackshear Regional Library. What patrons will see is a brighter library. It is amazing the difference a little tone makes in color. The walls were not dark before - they were fairly light. Well, now they will be noticeably brighter. They will look even more bright with the new carpet which has a charcoal look. The carpet actually has many different colors in it, but from a distance it looks charcoal. It was chosen to match the different colored shelf end panels we have. The new paint and new carpet will give the library a new look. I am glad! Although we do not have a new library (the goal was to put things back as they were pre tornado) it will be good to see what appears to be a new library.

The other bit to report it we are recovering our furniture. This has been made possible by our Friends of the Library and out local library board. We spent a lot of time looking at different fabrics - we wanted it to be what we wanted, what looked good, etc. Man, it was hard!! After seeing what has been delivered back to us so far - we are very pleased. The furniture in the children's area is beautiful. Though it doesn't really look like children's furniture, it does have really nice colors. We chose this fabric because of the colors. The chairs normally in the main lobby are now a nice blue. We are very excited to see the next two fabrics we have picked out.

The library right now looks awful inside. This is because the ceiling tiles are being replaced, so there is a lot of debris on the floors. You can see it in the pictures below. Once the ceiling and paint is finished then there will be little odds and ends to be completed - then we can begin moving back in. We plan to be closed to the public for about two weeks while we get everything moved and put in the correct place. We cannot open until it is safe. The actual moving of the books will not take that long. We will have the same crew we had last January. It will be good to see those folks again. They are very efficient.

I suppose that is all for now. The blogs have been very few and far between. That should end. We are already packing up, so the blogs will come a little faster.

Check out the photos below - what a mess!!!

More soon!

We have front doors!!

The letters from the front of the building.

WINDOWS!!!!!!!!

2008-09-16T07:39:00.001-07:00

We figured once the windows went in, things would move quickly. Well, they're in! The workers are finishing up the roof. Once that is done all the attention will be on the inside of the building. Wow! It seemed like overnight the windows were put it. Check out the photos below.

It is the middle of September - inside the building there is painting, carpeting and ceiling work to do. Because of the rain from the storm a couple of weeks ago - many of the ceiling tiles are damaged. This is not unexpected. As far as paint goes, we have chosen an off-white color for the walls. I suppose it is very similar to what was already there. Perhaps the most striking difference the public will see will be the carpet. It will be very different from before. It is darker, which is good for stains - and it contains many colors. I know that sounds strange, but the different colors are not noticeable unless you get right down at it. We are pleased with this. It took us quite sometime to find this carpet. We wanted something to match with the end-panels of the shelves - we got that. The carpet will take some getting used to.

The date we keep hearing is the first part of November. That may happen - it may not. We are still looking to move back in December. For the next blog, I will look at what will be involved with the move back. This is all quite an operation!

Once again, more to come.

It's still there!!

When The Rain Comes

2008-08-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

You know when I say things are moving on real well at the Lake Blackshear Regional Library? How it looks like we may be in there sooner than we think? We have a tropical storm!! Its name is Fay! Well, Fay did not come up through Georgia any. It pretty much stayed in Florida. Not just Florida but the panhandle of Florida - which makes for a lot of rain in Southwest Georgia. Man, we had a lot of rain!! It has rained for four straight days. And this is the tropical storm rain. It was raining just about every day from the humidity building up during the day!

It is very wet around here. And I am sure it is very wet on top of the library. I am sure the workers have been unable to get on the roof for any work. So, today there is nothing to report. That last blog? Just read it again. Perhaps we will have something new to say by the end of the week. Perhaps not.

More very soon!!

On to the Roof

2008-08-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Here it is August 22 and all of the brick work is done. The outside of the building is complete except for the roof. Workers have been tending to the roof for about two weeks. We have had some rain, which is a common cause of slow construction work. The work on our library has not been slow and one wonders just how far along the project would be if we had not had any rain at all. Today (Friday the 22nd) we are awaiting the northern bands of Tropical Storm Faye. It is raining as I write this blog. Perhaps the beginning of next week the workers will be able to continue. I have to wonder how long the project will take once the roof is finished?

As you can see from a few of the photos below, glass will have to be installed in the proper places. Okay, windows will have to be installed. Once that is complete, the workers move inside where they will paint and carpet. As you can see from one photo, the ceiling will have to be repaired as well. Wow - seeing that kinda shocked me, but did not surprise me. When a new roof is going on there are bound to be problems with the ceiling - besides, they will be painting and carpeting soon.

It has been seven months since we moved out - almost 18 months since the tornado of
March 1, 2007. We still plan to be back in by December. Regardless of when the library is ready, we must still wait for the movers. That could be anytime. I believe they left thinking they would be back in December. We will see. I know one thing, WE sure are not going to move all this stuff!!

As soon as I can get on the roof, I will have more photos. They might shoot me right now!!

This photo is looking at the big wall - the east wall of the building. You can see the difference in the brick. The old color brick (in back) is no longer made.

A closer look at the big wall.

A look at the workers on the roof. See, they really are up there!

A look down the walkway. The brick work looks good!

Looking into the trolley room. It's okay everyone, the trolley is fine. As you can see - he is still there completely covered. Soon, he will be his normal shiney self again...with a great big smile...oh, I have some more photos!!

This is a look at the front of the building showing the completed work.

The front door area.

A look at the big window of the main lobby - um, empty window.

This photo was taken inside the building looking out through the same big empty window. I just felt like taking the shot.

This is what sorta shocked me when I saw it. It's a mess!!

You can see the new blocks. This just shows where the new construction ended. The entire front of the building had to be replaced. This is the end line.

The opposite wall in the library. This wall is just to the left of the magazine section. Again, you can see the end line.

I don't know, I just felt like showing some of the new electrical work. The public access computers will be moved out in front of the old computer reservation desk. They will be plugged up here - behind the desk. The computers won't be behind the desk - just the plugs!

More on the roof soon!!

Man, It's Hotter!!!

2008-07-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Vacation is over - I made it back!! Look at the photos below!! It looks as though the outside of the Lake Blackshear Regional Library (Lamar Street) is almost finished. There are just a few areas that need to be completed - then the guys can move inside. Once they are inside, the weather will have little effect on their work.

Needless to say, the brick work is not all that is to be finished on the outside. We also have new air conditioner units being put on the roof. I hope to have photos of this soon. I may not be able to get on the roof, but I believe I will have a small window of opportunity. Hey, anything for my bloggin' buddies!! Once the units are in place, the roof will be put on. The old roof, which had been repaired several times (which is common during the life of an asphalt roof like our old one) will be replaced with a brand new roof. We also have windows to be put in. Some of these windows are very big!

I suppose once those things are done, only the carpet and paint will need to be completed inside. I look for the brick work to be finished by the end of this month (July). I still predict we will be back in the library during the month of December. It may be we open in January, but I believe we will move back in December.

Check out the photos below of the almost completed brick work. We will pick up the pace of the blogs as we get closer. More soon to come!!

Man, it's HOT!!!!!

2008-06-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's very hot!! A special thank you to the guys from Warren Scott for the great job they are doing. Those guys endure so much - being on the roof, they are so much closer to the sun!!

I just finished walking through Lake Blackshear. There is so much more order to it now. What once looked very chaotic now looks orderly. I have taken some photos which you can view below the text here. I said how much I was looking forward to them bricking up the big wall with the big window. Both sides are done all the way to the roof. Just the little section that connects to the roof is missing. I would say 85 to 90 percent of the brick work is done. Remember, once the walls are secured, the workers will move inside. I am predicting that may happen by the end of July if not before. I don't base that on anything other than just my observation.

I noticed today we have a lot of electrical outlets behind the side desk - the part of the desk that faced the reference section. When we move back the public access computers will be where the reference section used to be. These outlets will be where the power comes from for those computers. So far, there are not any real big changes inside. Everything should look pretty much the same. Yes, we will have new carpet and paint which will be different. This will give the library a different look.

Today, June 5 we had our first Vacation Reading Program show at the Tripp Street building. We certainly had plenty of room. The great magician Arthur Atsma was here to entertain. We really didn't know how the day would go, but everything went great. We were concerned about parking, but that also went well. It looks as though VRP will go pretty much as it usually does. Thank goodness!!

I will not blog for a couple of weeks as I head to the coast for my own vacation program. See you all the last week in June.

Below are some more photos of the work at Lake Blackshear:

This photo is of the western side of the library. Can you see where the brick changes? Not too bad.

Looking down the front walkway heading towards the front door.

The front of the library. Workers are bricking the facing above the walkway. They are almost done with this section!

This is the northeast corner. There is much work to be done here mainly because the wall is so big. This area is just outside from the special collections room. I believe this will be the last area to complete outside.

Looking into the BIG window. Note the brick work is complete all the way up to where the steps begin. It won't be long!

Another photo of the BIG window - or rather just to the right of it. This shows the right wall going up to where the steps begin. You can see the space going to the roof. The steps take some time to do because each step must settle before the next one begins.

The front door! Not bad. Again, the brick work is all but done.

A closer look at the walkway. The columns are all done, etc.

Looking out through the BIG window. Again you can see the space to the roof.

Looking out through the front door.

This is an interesting photo. Looking up through the special collections room to the northeast corner of the building. I believe this is the only area above ground that is still open to the outside - other than windows, etc. Once again, things are moving along.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the inside. Still looks the same. When we left, the big Christmas tree was still in the center of the floor. Perhaps when we get back, the Christmas tree will be back up!!

Into The Summer

2008-05-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Now, I know it's not officially summer yet, but once Memorial Day comes - it IS summer!! I suppose it can be said we are one season away from returning to Lake Blackshear. Work continues on our new old building. If you haven't been by lately, there is plenty to get excited about. Personally, I have been waiting for the BIG wall to go back up. This the wall with the BIG windows - right in the front. It will be nice to have brand new, clean, BIG windows. The old ones had two paint ball splotches on them. I am sure whoever fired those paint ball guns learned about it from the books they checked out in our library!!

Needless to say, the wall is going up. The brick work on the right side is a good way up. The left side is not as far along, but it is very encouraging. On either side of the building (that's the east and west sides) you can see how the brick matched. The original brick work was done in the mid-seventies. We came as close as we could to matching it. It's tough, but we are pleased. I think it will look very nice.

We are also having a new roof done. I don't think we have to worry a whole lot about matching anything up there. It's just a roof. We were getting to a point where there was a little bit of leakage onto some of the tiles in the building. We were going to have to change them out. This new roof should take care of that.

Meanwhile, on Tripp Street we carry on the usual things. The air conditioners are running a lot more. This means two things: first, we are cooler than if we were outside; second, we can actually talk in our regular voices, as we cannot be heard over the air conditioners. Remember, most of us do not have ceilings on our offices. It's crazy!!

Last time I blogged I said when we got back to LB, the young adult section would be moved to the computer cave (the public access computer area). Where are the computers to be? They will be moved out into the main lobby, directly in front of the computer station at the desk. They will be in the area that housed the reference books. It will be easier to monitor the area this way. On July 1 of this year, anyone with a PINES card can come into the library and type in their PINES number and gain computer access. We will no longer be giving out computer and pin numbers. More on that later.

It should be an interesting Vacation Reading Program that begins June 5th. Just like in the real library, the performances will be in the main lobby or the middle of our current factory building. Plenty of room and plenty of sound. We are all looking forward to our one and only "away from Lake Blackshear" Summer Vacation Reading Program.

I suppose that does it for today. I plan to have pictures of the construction next time. Until then, come to the library, get a PINES card and read something.

Three Months Down

2008-04-25T06:03:00.000-07:00

We have been in our temporary building for three months now!! That means there has been three months of work done at LB on Lamar Street. It seems every time we go over there, great changes have occurred. I took more photos, some of which will be on the next blog.

We continue to get good news from the people at Warren Scott. Now, this is not official...it's just a possibility...no wagering...it is possible the building may be finished before Thanksgiving. That does not mean we can move right back in. I still believe we will be moving during the month of December - that's if everything continues to work out.

Looking ahead a little - Lake Blackshear will look different when we reopen. We plan to move a few things around a bit. The plan right now is to have the YA (Young Adult) materials moved from the front wall next to the BIG window to what I call the cave. This is the area that housed the public access computers. This will give the young adults an area they can call their own. So, what about the computers? Where will they go? Hmmm...I'll save that for the next blog!!

Here are some of the more recent photos.

Looking out from the main lobby inside LB through what was the big window.

This area was the magazine/newspaper corner.

That's the Special Collection Room upstairs.

Brickword just outside the front door.

The open area you see will be the window of the children's library.

In the middle you can see the framing for a side door leading out of the arts and crafts area of the children's library. To the right of this door was the crack so bad we could see outside. The photo of that crack is in an earlier blog.

The trolley will be put back right here.

Looking down the front wall of the children's library.

This view is actually through what will be the big wall that separates the front door area from the main lobby.

Looking up through the Special Collections Room.

Looking down the front wall of the main lobby. This wall to the right is where the big front window will be.

Outside view

The front door area.

More soon!!

It's Getting Better All The Time

2008-04-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

This is what the Beatles sang in 1967. In 2008, however, we are not singing, but we can see things ARE getting better at Lake Blackshear. We call our Lamar Street home, "LB" which stands for Lake Blackshear.

As you can see from the photos below, LB is all torn up. This is a good thing. We can also see new brick work. This is a great thing, for we know the project is moving along. We have been told by the construction people that it looks like we will be back in LB before Christmas. This is the best news we could have. We are all looking forward to getting back where we belong - in our beautiful building. As tears roll down my face...um, nevermind - here are the photos.

This first photo is looking at the east side of the building - the side with the huge wall. For those of you familiar with the building, the special collections room is on the other side of the wall - inside on the second floor.

This photo actually shows the windows inside the building of the special collections room. The photo was taken looking through what were the big glass windows of the main lobby.

Looking east-southeast - the work was to be done in two phases, the west side being first and then the east side. Obviously, work has moved on to the east side.

This photo is of the west wall. As you can see, this wall is nearly finished. The brick "steps" look as though they are done - all that is left is the top part.

Another photo showing both sides or both phases. You can see the new brick walls in the front of the building.

Here you can easily see the new wall in the front of the building. The children's library would be directly behind this wall.

Just another photo looking south-southeast at the main lobby section.

Looking directly into the main lobby. Once again, if you are familiar with the library you can see the computer lab and literacy rooms upstairs in the back.

The final photo was taken looking north-northeast at the west wall. The wall is almost complete and may not be finished until the new roof is done.

More blogging soon!!

Then and Now

2008-03-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

The photos on today's blog were taken before we moved in to our Tripp Street home and after. The actual dates are 11-28-07 and 1-2-08 for before and 3-13-08 for after. The first photo is before we moved in and the next photo is after we moved in. The photos are in pairs. For points of reference, look at beams and light fixtures. Just for fun!!

Tornado Damage

2008-03-11T10:40:00.001-07:00

Look at this!!! A year and ten days after the tornado, our building has that "hit by a tornado look!" It's interesting, one could hardly tell we had any damage - yet, because of the damage you could not see - we have this...damage!!

It's not really damage, but good construction work by the folks at Warren Scott here in Americus. We at the library think the project is moving along - so much so that I predict we will be back home before Christmas. Sing it with me - "I'll be home for Christmas." This is nothing more than a very optimistic prediction. But it could happen.

One part of the project that will take time will be the brick work - especially the "stepped" brick work that is somewhat unique to the Lake Blackshear building. Each time a row is bricked, it will have to set before another can be done. If you look at the library you can see this brickwork. It is what gives the building its look. It'll be interesting to see the brickwork as it is done. It should be good and hot by then - those guys are amazing!!

Life continues on Tripp Street. We are settled and used to being here now, but are really ready to get back home. We have been so blessed to have such a roomy/comfortable place to stay while our building is being fixed. If you are reading this and have not been by, please come by and see the library - you have about nine more months.

Our next blog will have some interesting then and now photos - at least that is the plan. I will attempt to show photos of the Manhattan building as we first found it and then show the current photo below it - so you can compare.

Until then...read something.

Carpet

2008-02-20T11:50:00.000-08:00

Although we have only been open in our new/temporary building for twenty-four days, we are already beginning to plan for our return to Lamar Street (my prediction is we will be back before Christmas - please keep in mind this is only a prediction). Today we came to a decision about the carpet we will have when we return. It is called Aurora and it must have every color known to man. The big problem we had was matching the color of the carpet with the end panels of the book shelves. There seemed to always be one color we could not match. Well, endeavor to persevere. We met with a representative from Shiver Lumber Company (Shiver has been contracted by Warren Scott - the company renovating the Lake Blackshear Library). We had spent many days trying to decide what carpet to get. We just couldn't come to a decision. It took less than five minutes with the Shiver representative for us to have our carpet. It's amazing what expertise can do for you. So, we began the day in celebration!

I've noticed the windows are now gone from the Lamar Street site. Workers have been on the roof. Of course if anyone has driven by and looked it is easy to see the fence around the site. I have many photos of the empty building I am including in this blog. The photos are perhaps the only ones we will ever see of the library like it is now. Back in 1994, when the second level was built, there are a few photos floating about - but only a few. Hopefully we will not have to renovate again for a long while.

Empty Lake Blackshear

The magazine newspaper corner

The front windows looking at Lamar

The public computers area

The computer sign-up desk area

The front desk area

The front desk area again

The carpet coming up

No carpet at front desk

The children's library with no carpet

The actual "command central' during the move. This table was in the workroom at Lake Blackshear. Our only phone was here. Sitting at the desk is former director Jane Hendrix, who was a very important advisor during the move. In 1994, Jane moved the entire library with staff and prisoner labor only!

Our children's coordinator Beth Tanner's office at Lake Blackshear

Beams for support before demolition

More beams - this is the magazine newspaper corner

The front walkway at LB

The front door area

The children's library at LB

More pictures will follow as things begin to come down and go up at Lake Blackshear.

Stay tuned...

Getting In The Groove

2008-02-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Things have begun to settle down. We are all gettting back into the groove of what we do. The PINES system is beginning to be mastered by most folks. We are actually running two systems - our old one, which we use to check in books that may have been out in that system and the new PINES system. After a while we will be able to totally turn off the old system and just use PINES. That will be a big day!

The play/theater event was a great success. We did not know how well it would be attended because we were in a new place. All three nights were well attended. We had to bring out extra chairs for both the Saturday night and Sunday afternoon performances. The dinner went great Saturday night. We were fortunate to have some great high school students help with serving - what a great job they did! All seemed to be wonderful people. The play itself, "A Mullet Family Reunion" was a smash. Never before have there been so many mullets on one stage!!

Our attention will now turn to the Lake Blackshear building. We have noticed that some of the landscaping has been removed. Tire marks have appeared on the front lawn. Beams can be seen inside the main lobby. So far, things have moved very quickly - something that has given us hope for a quick return. We have been assured things will begin to slow down as the actual construction will soon begin. The construction will be done in two phases. That entire front wall of the library must come down and then be replaced. The construction will move around the sides of the building going back about 20-30 feet. Everything will be restored just as it was the morning of 1 March 2007. We will be able to paint and carpet the building. We are presently performing the arduous task of choosing a carpet. Generally, there are three of us who will make this decision - the Director, the Assistant Director and the Administrative Assistant. It is really interesting how people's tastes are different regarding carpet. Whatever the carpet winds up being, it will be nice and give the library a small, different look.

The next blog will be early next week - hopefully Monday. We have alot of pictures from the empty lake Blackshear building that we will put up. As the construction goes along we will have many photos for you.

Once again, this blog will be continued.

Back On Line

2008-01-25T12:23:00.000-08:00

At last, we are finally back on-line, or should I say on-line at our new home. What an adventure!! It is Friday - Monday we will open to the public and we still have a lot to do. We will be working through tomorrow and some of us will be here Sunday. When ten o'clock comes Monday morning we will still be getting settled. On top of that, it will be the first day we will be on the PINES system. On top of that, Tuesday we have a visiting author. Oh, yeah, the play starts FRIDAY!!!!! What a week!!

I once again have limited time to blog and I apologize wholeheartedly for not being able to blog the last two weeks, but that is just how it worked out. For some odd reason, I was unable to blog from my home. I tried and tried, but could not.

The movers did an excellent job. It was quite a show. They came in with these huge wooden book carts. They took the books off of the shelves and filled up a lot of these carts. Once the books were on the carts, they disassembled the shelves. The shelves were taken over to Manhattan and reassembled in their correct places. The books were then taken off of the carts and put back on the shelves. Each row of the carts was tagged with location information. Moving the books and the shelves was not a problem at all downstairs. Upstairs became a little more involved...or so we thought. These guys have seen it all. They once again put all the books onto the carts and disassembled the shelves. In most cases they were able to keep the frames together. They simply lifted the frames over the glass wall down to someone on the first floor. That person was usually on a table or something like that. That also was done pretty easily.

Moving the books and shelves was the easy part. Once this was done, all of the other junk had to be moved. This was what was so intense. Office supplies, tables, chairs, tools, catalog equipment, book equipment, fax machine, copiers, scanners, all the circulation equipment, cleaning supplies, food and drinks, ladders, computers, monitors, keyboards, mouses, printers, magazines, newspapers, wooden shelves from offices, desks and contents, countless power cords, countless computer cords, paper...everything. We had boxed up just about everything and labelled the boxes. My boxes were labelled Rich. My name was outside my new office in the Manhattan building. The movers simply put all of my boxes in my new office. Easy!! Some of the boxes, however, never got labbeled. These would wind up somewhere. Whoever the box belonged to would have to find it. That was fun for most folks.

The movers could have had us moved in no time, but the construction at Manhattan was very involved. What made it worse for the workers was a time limit. They were really under the gun. It was amazing how they were able to do what they did. In less than a month, they took an empty 100,000 square foot building and turned it into a 20,000 foot area, complete with offices, made specifically for a library. They made eight offices, a workroom, and a storage room we named Easy (because the things in it were to be easy to get to). Oh, we also have two bathrooms that we will all share. Needless to say, there was much more work - construction, electrical, heat and air, plumbing, cleaning, etc.

Our staff came back yesterday, the 24th. They have been busy moving things around, setting-up...good gosh, the things that have to be done just for someone to be able to check out a book!! Anyway, they have been and will be busy into next week. All the while getting used to working in a new place - most of these people have not been away from Lake Blackshear in thirteen years. Indeed, some of us have only been at Lake Blackshear.

Although the move is practically over, I will continue to blog at least for awhile. Perhaps I will turn my attention to the theater event coming next week. That's another intersting topic. I'll do that a little next time. If I have left out anything I will blog it as soon as I can. I hope you enjoy this and again I am sorry for being away for two weeks.

To be continued...

It's Happening

2008-01-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not blogging more, but we have been very busy. This moving thing is something else! You never know how much junk you have until you have to move. Now, I have moved several times and we always had a lot of junk at home. It is the same at a library. I suppose you could say we are weeding everything - not just the collection.

As LB begins to look bare, Manhattan is beginning to look like a library - okay, a temporary library. Yesterday was a huge day as far as progress goes. It was perhaps the biggest leap in getting that place ready. Most of the offices have walls. Most of the books are moved. I believe all of the helves are in place. Perhaps the biggest change from previous days was the separation wall going up. This is the wall that goes all the way to the ceiling. This wall will make it much easier to heat and cool the library. It should be finished Friday.

Right now, we are so busy that I have to end this blog. Later today, when we get a chance - more blogging.

Photos of Move

2008-01-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

We now can see walls at Manhattan

Workers taking down shelves at LBRL

Putting books on shelves at Manhattan

Setting up shelves at the Manhattan site

Books on carts at Manhattan site

Looking down from second floor at carts and books in main lobby of LBRL

Books on carts at LBRL

It Has Begun!!!

2008-01-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

At approximately 9:15 this morning, the movers arrived to begin moving the Lake Blackshear Regional Library. It is great to see this day arrive. Southeast Storage Solutions, Inc. out of High Springs, Florida have been working all day moving our shelves and books. For those of you familiar with our library - the workers are disassembling the shelves that hold the non-fiction books, beginning with the Dewey Decimal number 001. Looking at the first floor shelves, the workers are beginning near the window and working towards the back of the library. At the end of the day Monday they had moved nine complete shelves and one single sided shelf - working well past the elevator on the first floor. The books are taken off the shelves and loaded onto big wooden carts. The carts are then rolled onto a truck and transported to the Manhattan building. The books remain on the carts until the shelves are in place.

We can finally see what the Manhattan building will look like. We visited over there about 3:30 and there were four shelves in place (the other five will be up this evening). By the end of this week we will surely get a good look at what the stacks will look like. Also, we are beginning to see walls put up on the various offices and workrooms.

It has been a very interesting day. We went from not knowing anything about the book moving operation to seeing it close up and feeling pretty good about everything. We certainly are optimistic about opening January 22nd. Shortly after that date, work will begin on the Lake Blackshear Regional building.

Tomorrow we will post some pictures from today of both sites. Check back with us tomorrow afternoon.

Photos from Tripp Street

2008-01-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

Looking into the staff workroom from the door heading out to the desk.

Looking along the wall of the offices towards the bathrooms in back.

A view of one of the offices with the staff workroom behind.

Looking through the door of the staff workroom out into the desk area. The front desk will be just outside this doorway.

Looking towards the desk area. The desk will be left to right running in front of this wall and behind the beam. The staff workroom is in the back.

Looking along the back wall of the new library towards what will be the children's area. The offices will be straight back to the left.

Another look at the desk area. The doorway in this photo will lead to the staff workroom.

Christmas, the Move, Closings and the Theater Event

2007-12-13T12:29:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-12-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

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)?

2007-11-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

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.