Although construction crews are still putting the finishing touches on the new Plainsboro Public Library, Plainsboro officials say the long-anticipated new facility may be open as soon as next month.
Township Administrator Bob Sheehan told the Township Committee on October 28 that officials are hoping the doors can open sometime in December, although work still needs to be done. Progress was made on the critical installation of the elevator in the new facility. Issues that caused delays in the installation of some of the telephone lines have been resolved.
The front door to the library has also been completed, and “once we get the elevator in, we can make arrangements for the furniture,” he said. Sheehan also reported that the lighting seemed to be in good shape and that the deadline for the temporary certificate of occupancy is Monday, November 9.
Upon completion, the $12.4 million library will hold 125,000 volumes and provide informal reading areas, display space for art, quiet study rooms, 40 computer stations, a children’s section with an expanded science/computer center, a local history room, and community meeting rooms. In addition, it will feature a health education center and independent study rooms.
According to the library’s director Jinny Baeckler, the temporary certificate of occupancy would allow officials, if all goes well, “to add carpeting and shelving on the third floor, and then we would work from the top down.”
“We still don’t have all the panes of glass up on the roof,” and there is water-resistant work that still needs to be completed on the edges of the roof to prevent water from leaking through, she said. The patio floors have also not been installed yet, she said.
“We’re wrapping up loose ends; we’re not there yet,” she said. In the meantime, library administrators are busy re-cataloging the books and DVDs. One feature of the new library is that DVDs will be placed onto shelves under the same Dewey Decimal system as books. For example, someone looking for a book on mathematics would also find mathematical DVDs located on the shelves in that particular area.
“We also have put all the CDs out instead of behind the desk,” eliminating the need for the patron to bring the CD case to the desk, where an employee would have to search for the CD. Library staff are also working on packing up the boxes in the basement as well as creating lists to delegate responsibilities during the move, Baeckler said.
