Building Upgrades at Hutchinson Public Library

It's been a long time since any major remodeling or expansion has taken place at the Hutchinson Public Library. Of course we have had "maintenance" types of work done and I suppose you could consider things like a new roof "major work". But you never notice a roof until it leaks.

What we are planning now is a series of upgrades to the usable spaces in the library.

First, we are moving the public computers out of the poorly ventilated second floor space it now occupies. The computers will move to the first floor in the area below the mezzanine. IT staff will still be available to help but computers will be in more of a walk-up situation, out in the open.

That move frees up the space the lab currently occupies, which brings me to the second project: Remodeling the Main Street entrance. We are going to extend the foyer eastward to create a larger air-lock to help with heat gain/loss when the automatic doors are all open. Simultaneously, we will be adding some windows and a reading area in the old lab space which is directly above the Main Street entrance. In the end, we hope to have a better entry AND a nice new (quieter) reading area overlooking Main street.

Our third major upgrade is sorely needed. We will be remodeling the children's area bathrooms. These are the oldest bathrooms in the building and boy, do they show it! They will get a top-to-bottom redo.

For the more distant future, we have in the works an upgraded and enlarged young adult area and a remodel of the auditorium.

It may not always seem like it, but we are working hard to bring you new services and now updated spaces!