Madison Public Library
Carol Froistad has given up trying to put a date on when the downtown library will close for a $30 million renovation and expansion.
"We're thinking mid to late October. But I was planning for July six months ago," says Froistad, the library's community services manager. "There are a number of things up in the air that we don't control."
But when it closes, people in the downtown area will still be able to access library services, she says. A temporary downtown branch will be at 126 S. Hamilton St., with about 3,000 square feet, compared to the current 40,000 square feet of public space.
Most of the collection will be moved to a storage facility but patrons can still pickup materials placed on hold at the temporary branch. There will also be a computer lab, with 22 computers (the downtown branch now has 28). Also available, in reduced collections, will be new books, DVDs, CDs and magazines. The library is contemplating allowing people to take out new magazines, since there'll be little space in the library to read them.
