I had a nightmare the night before the reopening celebration of the Sequim Branch Library, which took place on Saturday 4/25, after its 3-month-long closure for a major renovation. In my dream, everybody had forgotten that Sequim had a Library. We threw open the doors to welcome back the community, but nobody showed up. Fortunately, I'm not clairvoyant. The community returned to the renewed and refreshed Sequim Branch...in fact they came back in hordes! And as you can see from the smiles in these photos, people seem to like what they're finding. New carpet, new paint, attractive and comfortable seating, a colorful area for children, and new space for teens, among other features. It's the same 6,000 sq ft, but collections and seating areas have been rearranged to be easier to navigate.
Instead of two staffed check-out stations, there is one, and instead of one express check-out station, there are two. This was done deliberately, as operating costs continue to increase but revenues don't, in order to free up staff time from performing tasks the computer system can do. We didn't want to set up the false expectation that there will always be three staff members at the public service desks, when in fact there are times when there can only be two, or even one. This doesn't mean there won't be staff available to help you - they just won't be stuck behind desks.
NOLS hasn't given up completely on the idea of an expanded library for the Sequim-Dungeness Valley area. But the Library first needs to augment its funding in order to maintain existing service levels and address aging infrastructure throughout the system. In the meantime, we hope the renovated Sequim Branch Library will bring much pleasure and satisfaction to the community it serves. Thank you for your patience while the renovation project was underway. It's great to be back in business!
