The renovation of the Ferndale Public Library revolves around three S's – stuff, staff and space. The project, pushed back from this spring to this fall, will provide more of all three to library patrons.
The renovation will add about 6,000 square feet of space to the nearly 12,000-square-foot building. Among the additions are meeting room space fronting 9 Mile Road, a new children's room facing Troy Street, a new area for teens and a much-needed facelift to the 1954 structure. A virtual tour of the new building is available here.
The addition, paid for by a 1-mill millage increase last year, will give the library space to bump up its staff from four to 10. It will also provide the funds to double the library's purchasing budget for books and other media, such as audio books and CDs.
Keeping with Ferndale's attention to sustainability, the library development is also going for silver LEED certification. Among its environmentally friendly features is the putting more windows and skylights into the building, bringing in more natural light. The added sunshine is expected to make the interior more attractive and reduce electricity use.
"We're going to be as green as possible," says Mary Trenner, interim director of the Ferndale Public Library. "The city and the library board both believe in making this project as green as possible, so we're going to be as green as possible."
Construction was supposed to start this spring but has been put off until the library's new director is firmly in place. The new director is set to begin work in June, pushing the start of work back to this fall. Construction will close the building for one year during which the library will open in a temporary, yet-to-be-determined location.
Source: Mary Trenner, interim director of the Ferndale Public Library
Writer: Jon Zemke
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