BonnerSprings.com

Though much still must be left to the imagination at the new library building, Tuesday night’s hour-long tour left quite an impression on the handful of City Council and Library Board members who attended.

“It is amazing,” said Mayor Clausie Smith at the tour’s end. “It is so exciting to have a facility like this in our community. It’s really a great, great addition.”

The tour, led by library director Kim Beets and project manager Matt Beets, covered the entire library and the Federal Emergency Management Agency storm shelter in the basement.

Upon arrival at the building, which is in some of the final stages of construction, Kim pointed out areas where two new parking lots will reside — one that will accommodate 40 cars and one that will accommodate 20. The next stop was the office area, which will include six offices, a storage closet, a break room, a staff restroom and Kim’s office.

Kim next showed everyone a spacious meeting room and then the Kansas Room, which will be a highlight of the library. She said this room would contain the Kansas collection as well as resources related to genealogy and local history. Additionally, the room will feature a stained glass window with a Kansas theme donated by Friends of the Bonner Springs Library and designed by local artist and Edwardsville resident Lesli Trout.

The next stop was an area, divided into two rooms, which will strictly be used for visitors who want to study. Following that was a look at the area that will eventually hold the heart of the library — its books. This area will be divided into three sections: adult, young adult and children. The bookshelves in all three areas will be placed in a radius pattern so that, as Kim says, “you can stand behind the circulation desk and see the entire library.”

“This is a good safety issue, good customer service, and it allows us to run the library with a smaller amount of staff,” she added.

She characterized the children’s book area and storytime room as being “nice and bright and vibrant” with colors two shades away from primary. The entire area will have a railroad theme: Yellow and black tiles on the floor will give the feel of a railroad crossing and two plastic apparatuses in the shape of a train engine and caboose will jut out from the wall surrounding the storytime room entrance.

Other highlights of the tour included a look at the areas where a granite fireplace will be built and where an art gallery wall will feature local and nonlocal artists.

Kim said visitors could expect the new library to be vastly different from the current one in many ways, including space and technology. She notes that the new building is 17,000 square feet and the current building is only 5,000, and that there will be 24 computers for visitors to use free-of charge instead of the 12 currently available. She does, however, hope the two buildings retain one common attribute.

“We hope to keep that wonderful, hometown, small feeling that makes our library unique in the metro area,” Kim said.

The new library is tentatively scheduled to be done in late May, with the moving in date being sometime in early June. The current library will close for two weeks during that transition time.