Grand Opening - and we are almost 115 years old!

The dust has settled, the contractors have moved on (mostly), and we are enjoying our wonderful new space.  It was a bumpy ride at times, but we are all so grateful for our beautiful, roomy, light-filled library.  Now we can celebrate!  Our Grand Opening and 115th birthday celebration is set for Saturday, July 28th, from 10 to 1, and all are welcome.  Local artist Joel Pfeiffer will be facilitating one of his world famous Clay Stomps to be housed in our new addition; tables of "stomped" clay will be set up to carve.  The theme "My Library Is..." gives all of you lots of opportunity to express your love for libraries in artwork! We will have food for sale by the Hartland Kiwanis (all proceeds go to the library), music by Little Bit of Heaven on our new front porch, an open house in the new Hartland History Room, crafts for the children in our new program room, and treats for all.  We hope you will come and enjoy your new and improved library!

The Home Stretch

We are getting done - finally!  The new energy efficient furnaces go on the roof on Friday; the painters are beginning in the addition; the program room and the new childrens spaces will be getting their ceilings back; and we are making plans for a two week closure beginning on April 23rd.  During the time we are closed the front porch will be ripped out and redone, the new circulation desk, front doors and tiled floor will be installed, the books will be put on carts and the shelving will be dismantled and taken out to re-configure.  In the second week of closure staff will be shelving in the addition.  Do not expect a beautifully redone library when we re-open on May 7th - we will still be shelving and carpeting in the "old" library.  But it will get done, and during May the landscaping, final shelving and all the other last details will take us to a June 1st completion.  It has been a wonderful journey!

Thank  you all so much for your patience with the noise, mess, and occasional stray books.  Our patrons have been very understanding about our less than organized library.  I think everyone is as excited as we are to re-open and spread out into our beautiful new space.  We will be accepting returns of materials checked out at the Hartland Library only during the time we are closed - some days we may be in the Community Center next door while the porch is being redone.  Our van driver may not be able to get to us for several days, so we request that you do not drop off books for other libraries during this time.  Watch our website for details on a day to day basis.  Stay tuned to this blog for more updates - and information on all of our summer activities and our Grand Opening/115th birthday celebration at the end of July. 

No, The Library is not Going to be Green...

...except in an environmental sense!  The green color that you see on the new addition is a spray type of waterproofing.  The addition will be mostly brick to match the current building, and our mild weather means that the masons will be starting soon.  The building is now "dry", meaning enclosed and watertight, and the various trades persons are installing drywall, electrical outlets, and insulation.  Inside the current library the new bathrooms are finished and the crew has started on the program room.  Next week will be crazy for the staff - we will be renovating the staff area so everything will need to be carted out while they paint and put down new carpeting.  There should be no disruption of service for patrons, just us!  Thank you all for putting up with the confusion - the crews have tried to be as quiet as possible when they need to work in the "old" library.

It looks like we will be closed for about two weeks beginning Apri 23 through May 6th.  At that time the library will be closed to the public, but we will still accept returns and we hope to figure out what we can do about holds.  More on that later, when we have the details worked out. 

A very special thank you to a Town of Delafield couple who have donated $25,000 to the library in honor of their children.  Both named opportunities and donor wall recognition are available for all interested library supporters.  Please see Nancy Massnick at the library for details.

Wow - It's Beautiful!

If you have been by the new addition you can see it clearly now - a beautiful building almost ready for the inside work to begin. Everyone is getting excited to have it all complete.  In addition to the new addition the construction crews are also finishing with the bathroom renovations and have broken through the walls in the storytelling room to open up that space.  They will begin on our new program room soon.  We are not quite far enough along to have set dates for any closures yet, but probably the middle of April will find us closed for two weeks or so while the "old" building is repainted, recarpeted, and the shelving units set up again. 

We would like to thank the Kiwanis Club of the Greater Hartland Area for their $6,000 donation toward our new study area.  Named opportunities still exist, and our donor wall always has room!  Please consider the library for your yearly charitable giving or in your planned estate giving.  The Hartland library, at almost 115 years old, is a precious community asset that continues to be a resource for young, old, and everyone in between.  Drive by - it is quite a beautiful sight!

We have a floor - and steel too

Yes, it is December and they are pouring the new floor today!  Our wonderfully mild winter so far has been great for outdoor construction.  With the steel up and the floor in you can really see the shape of the new addition.  Soon they will be wrapping the building and the inside work will begin.  Our refurbished men's bathroom will be done in a week or two - the partitions will be temporary because we are waiting for the new ones but the rest will be done and open for business.  Next will be the women's bathroom, and then the crew will start in on the children's area.  We apologize for the disruption, but the more we can get done inside our old building now the less time we have to close in April when the shelves go down and the carpeting comes in. 

The Friend's Tree is still up and ornaments will be available for purchase until mid-January.  Please consider a library donation as a gift to yourself or to someone else - perhaps a grandparent or a local teacher.  We truly value your contributions to our library and to our community.  Many of our named opportunities have been reserved, but there are still some available and there is always room on our donor wall!  You will enjoy the gift that keeps on giving for years to come in our beautiful new library addition. 

It's Dark in Here....

...just for one day, we hope!  We Energies is working on the electrical lines on Tuesday, November 29th, and we will be closed for the day.  They hope to be finished in one day, so there should be minimal disruption.  In order to minimize the time we need to be closed for moving in April the crew has also started in on remodeling the bathrooms and a few other "inside" jobs.  They are trying to do the noisy demo before we open, so please continue to use the library as usual.  One bathroom will be open at all times during the remodel.

Do you need a gift this holiday season for the person who has everything?  Consider choosing an ornament from the Friend's Tree - instead of books this year, you may donate a chair, table, or simply give to the library building fund.  There are all different price points, from $10.00 to $300.00.  Donations of tables and chairs will be named opportunities, and donations to the building fund will be listed on the Honor Roll when we have our grand opening.  You may dedicate your gift to yourself, a friend, relative or special teacher.  Come on in and choose an ornament off the tree - we will show you how it all works.  Enjoy shopping at your public library instead of the crowded mall!  We would love to see you during this holiday season.

Dirt and More Dirt

There is a lot of mess out there - but the foundation is going in and you can begin to see where the outline of the addition will be.  It is so interesting to see the design on paper come alive in concrete!  It is in many ways a classic, simple design and it looks very symetrical through the fence.  It would be fun to get closer, but please stay out of the fenced in area.  It is for authorized personel with hard hats only!  The children have been fascinated by the big machines and the workmen; you can see pretty well out the back window for the best view.  In the meantime, please excuse our tight shelves - we had to move over 200 shelves of books off the back wall in preparation for construction of a new wall, and we had to push them together as tightly as possible and pile them as high as possible to fit them all in.  Please ask for help if you can't find something.  We are working on making them a little looser, but I am afraid they will be uncomfortably tight until we can move into our new space. In about a month we will need to be closed for two days or so in order to move the electrical lines - watch this blog and our website for exact times when they are determined.  Other than the tight books we are open for business as usual - come on in and see our dirt!