The Woodstock Library will close Friday for about a month before reopening in a larger space that will feature more room for children’s programs, archives and community events, the final phase of a $3.3 million project that has showcased both the promise of expanded services and the financial strains that small-town libraries face across the Mid-Hudson region.
The move to 10 Dixon Ave. from 5 Library Lane marks the last step in a transition that has weathered federal budget cuts and construction delays. Library trustees who initially expected to close a $265,000 funding gap through donations are now turning to voters this fall for a $300,000 bond while courting donors and applying for grants.
Users with books on the library’s hold shelf should pick them up by 4 p.m. on Friday or at the West Hurley Library after that, while overdue items can be returned at any other facility in the Mid-Hudson Library System. The Woodstock Library will hold Storytimes at the Woodstock Farm Festival, and adult groups such as Staying in Place will meet at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center.
“We don’t want to disappear completely,” said Ivy Gocker, the library’s director. “I would just encourage people to use your other local libraries because we’re all networked in one system.”
The pause in service will allow staff and volunteers to move collections and equipment into the new building.
“For the next month, moving and getting set up in the new building is everybody’s focus,” Gocker said. “So it’s basically all hands on deck. We have hired movers and we are hoping to corral some volunteers to help with the move.”
Once construction is complete—the installation of a circulation desk is expected during the last week of September—the library anticipates a soft opening, followed by a grand opening party a few weeks after that.
Library staffers said they’re eager to move.
“We look forward to having more space to offer our patrons the chance to have more programs, the chance to come in and really relax and enjoy the resources that are here,” said Mei Moi Lee, a library technician. “I know sometimes that that can be a little more difficult when you’re in a smaller space.”
Katerina Fiore, the library clerk, described her role in the transition as focused on keeping things running day to day as Lee, librarian Kim Apolant, Gocker, and others manage the work behind the scenes.
“When we close, we’ll be doing whatever it is they need us to do,” Fiore said.
On Library Lane, meantime, plans are afoot for a renovation, starting with the lawn and gardens, which is owned by the Bearsville Center’s Lizzie Vann.
“On the 15th of September, we get access,” Vann said. “We get the key and we go.”
The green space in front of the old library will remain.
“A lot of people are worried that the front park, where the maypole is at the moment, is going to be changed,” she said. “Well, it’s not. That’s going to be forever green.”
Vann’s team is planning pollinator-friendly gardens, native plantings, and a natural pond.
“We’re thinking about it as a complete place that the public can walk around,” she said. “My plan is to, within a few weeks of having access to the building, make the original building into an information center so the public can come in and walk in and find out what’s happening around this whole area.” Vann did not reveal what her plans are for the building, saying more details will come in the weeks ahead.
If library users must return something in September and can’t bring it to another library, they should contact Gocker at ivy@woodstock.org to make a special arrangement. Library users can sign up for its newsletter at woodstock.org for updates on the reopening.
Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.