Following months of planning, library reopens at new location

After months of planning and weeks of moving, the new location for Chelsea Public Library is now up and running.

Located off U.S. 280 just past Chelsea Road, the new location nearly triples the square footage of the Crane House, where the library remained a “best kept secret,” said library director Dana Polk.

“We’ve always been the best kept secret in Chelsea,” Polk said. “The library is 17 years old, and still long-time residents will say, ‘I didn’t know we had a library,’ because we’ve been upstairs in the bank we’re moving back into. We were tucked away in City Hall, and we’re in this fabulous house, tucked away in a little corner.”

The new location, however, will change that.

Thanks to new parking and a more visible location, Polk said they expect to increase their circulation by at least 25 percent. 

“I think we’re going to be busier than we really realize,” Polk said.

The library circulated 62,000 items in 2017, she said, adding that those numbers were with a smaller staff and more limited hours. At the start of the new year, they added new staff members and extended weekday and Saturday hours.

Within their 5,300 square feet, the library will have a youth space in the bank’s former vault, four bathrooms, a small conference room, a reading patio and a larger staff area.

“It’s just going to look so much nicer,” she said. “More elbow room.”

One of the additions Polk is most excited about is the new youth space.

“The vault is their little space, and hopefully [will have] a better selection of the nonfiction books that will be geared toward them,” she said. “We really don’t have them pulled out and designated as ‘young adult nonfiction,’ but I’m working to build that collection now. That’s huge, for me, for that age group.”

The children’s area, located upstairs, will have furniture on wheels. That way, Polk said, they can move around the furniture to open up a larger program space.

Prior to the move, Polk said she was already pursuing grant funding for items for new technology, such as iPads for the kid’s section or tools to create a STEM day. They also plan to expand programming, including establishing Medicare and adult literacy based courses. 

“There’s so much that we can do, and the question is, ‘Do we have the time, do we have the ability, and do we have someone who can come in and do it?’” Polk said.

The library is located at 16623 U.S. 280. It is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, go to chelsealibraryonline.com.