By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



For two weeks, you can check ’em in, but you can’t check ’em out.

The Gardendale-Martha Moore Public Library is closing Aug. 1-15 for a remodel of the inside of the library.

City of Gardendale and library officials have talked of building on to the library, but the funds are not yet there for an expansion.

In the meantime, the library staff is doing what it can to accommodate all of its patrons.

“We’re trying to make better use of our space,” said library director Connie Smith.

During the remodel, library employees will swap the children’s area with the adult nonfiction and reference section. They will also move the computers to a different area.

The children’s section is currently right across from the employees’ work station and the check-out desk.

Smith said that at peak times, noise from the youngest patrons carries throughout the library.

“It’s hard for us to talk on the phones when the children’s area is full,” she said. “We’re putting the children’s area in the space where the expansion would be. We’re getting ready for the future.”

The new children’s section will be more closed off from the rest of the library than it is currently.

For those who use the library’s computers, the new computer area will be a technology lab appropriate for classes.

The computer section is now in the open and offers no privacy. It borders the check-out desk and is across from the children’s area.

During the two-week closure, employees will be answering the telephone and patrons will be able to pick up holds, or materials they have reserved.

“We want people to be able to get the books they need, especially with school about to start back,” said Smith.

Also, employees will be emptying the book return daily, so library materials still must be turned in by their due dates.

The public libraries in Warrior and Fultondale are aware of Gardendale’s closure and are prepared for extra customers during that time.

All three libraries are members of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC), so patrons with a JCLC library card can use any member library.

“We anticipate more people and we’re ready,” said Warrior librarian Lanette Williams. “We will go with the flow.”

The Gardendale library is not hiring anyone to help with the remodel. Employees will do the work, along with volunteer members of the Gardendale High School National Honor Society.

The Gardendale library resumes its regular hours on Aug. 17.

For more information, call the library at 631-6639 or visit http://gardendale.lib.al.us/.