The foundations for the new Dexter District Library are in, the frame is rising out of the ground and construction workers are whistling a merry tune as they push to get the job done by this fall.
Well, maybe the workers aren't whistling but the new building in downtown Dexter, 3255 Alpine Street, is still on schedule for completion by this fall.
"We're trying to get through the last bit of bad weather," says Paul McCann, director of the Dexter District Library.
And he points out there are a lot of people eagerly looking forward to the project finally finishing up. Use of the library has increased more than 1,000 percent in the last 10 to 15 years, making it one of the top 10 busiest libraries in the state.
Half of the 16,000 some inhabitants in the library's district carry a Dexter Library card. Those users range from students looking for a place to study to new economy workers popping open a laptop to do their jobs. Library officials expect more by the time the library opens.
"We're looking forward to having a building that will accommodate the incredible increase in demand we have seen in the last few years," McCann says.
The $7.8 million project will build a 25,000-square-foot, two-story structure, replacing the 4,200-square-foot old library, formerly the Methodist Church Education Building it moved into in 1996. The new facility features more space for books and other materials, studying and reading space and meeting rooms. There will also be computer rooms and wireless Internet access for library patrons.
There will be expanded computer resources, significantly more study space, a quiet reading area and more comfortable seating throughout the building. The meeting room space will comfortably accommodate 200 people without the moving book stacks to free up space, which must be done in the current library.
The new location is centrally located downtown and overlooks Warrior Creek Park and the Mill Creek bridge.
Source: Paul McCann, director of the Dexter District Library
Writer: Jon Zemke
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