Bellingham Library sets opening date to show off benefits of $2.5 million remodel
The Bellingham Public Library is scheduled to reopen June 7 after a 14-month pandemic closure, and patrons will see a first floor that’s open and airy and embraces the Digital Age.
Since March 2020, library users have been limited to online services and curbside pickups of books, DVDs and other materials to limit the spread of COVID-19.
But inside the building, a $2.5 million remodeling project for the building’s 20,000-square-foot main floor pushed ahead last summer.
“There weren’t many silver linings from the past year, but this was one,” Library Director Rebecca Judd told The Bellingham Herald during a recent tour of the remodeling project, which was designed by RMC Architects of Bellingham.
“They’ve really brightened up this space. It’s a world of difference,” Judd said. “It’s going to be nice to have people back in the building.”
A new ceiling features LED lighting that replaces the harsh fluorescent tubes, and an expanded newspaper and magazine section allows more natural lighting through windows facing the rear lawn and City Hall.
Many of that section’s tables have electrical plugs for connecting phones and laptop computers, while the upholstered chairs have built-in outlets and swing arms for laptops.
“That was one of the goals of the project, to put in as much power for charging laptops and devices,” Judd said.
“The upstairs is more ADA-accessible in a couple of ways,” she said.
Two all-gender accessible restrooms were added to the main floor, and counter tops and computer carrels are at a height suited for people who use wheelchairs, according to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Judd said.
And the passenger elevator was rebuilt.
Funding came from the city’s general fund and the real estate excise tax, and furniture was provided by the nonprofit Friends of the Bellingham Public Library, Judd said.
As patrons enter the main floor from Central Avenue, they’ll see a new corridor that leads directly to the book stacks, with two new study rooms and the Skillshare area for demonstrations and classes.
There’s an expanded section for pickup of held material — a popular service, Judd said — and the teen section is now behind the main desk.
Possibly the most important new features aren’t open to the public, but they are changes that ensure patrons get their books and other materials faster.
A rebuilt loading dock makes inter-library transfers easier and a computerized mechanical book sorter speeds the time it takes to check-in material and sort items that are requested at other Bellingham library branches or at locations in the Whatcom County Library System.
Bellingham City Council members saw the remodeled main floor recently and they have been getting progress reports as the opening date nears.
“It was a gem of our community before. It will be again,” Councilman Gene Knutson said during a May 10 update on the project.
“This is one of our city’s most well-loved resources,” Councilman Dan Hammill said at a meeting Monday, May 24.
Bellingham’s library is also one of the top libraries both statewide and nationally, in terms of per capita use, Judd told the council.
“The library is sixth in the state in circulation per capita,” Judd told The Herald in an email. “Nationally, according to 2018 data, Bellingham Public Library is in the top 5% in circulation per capita when compared to all public libraries in the U.S. (It’s in the) top 4% if you look at just towns with populations between 25,000 to 100,000.”
That’s with a $5.3 million 2021 budget and 80 total employees, including part-time aides.
Judd said the current remodeling project is part of a phased series of improvements to the building, which opened in 1951.
A push to build a new library ended several years ago with plans to remodel and possibly expand the current building, she said.
Over the next several years, staff areas on the second floor will be revamped, followed by a makeover of the children’s section downstairs.
Meanwhile, library use continues to grow, with 1.6 million materials loaned annually to 60,000 card holders, Judd told the council.
In 2019, the library’s Central Avenue location and its branches in Barkley and Fairhaven saw 737,400 visits.
▪ 1,699 hold requests are filled.
▪ Patrons borrow 5,475 books, eBooks, DVDs, and other items.
▪ Staff members answer 399 questions.
▪ Patrons log in for 224 public computer sessions.
▪ Some 2,218 patrons visits the three locations.
▪ 25 new library cards are issued.
▪ 94 people attend programs.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
