Work continues on new library

Children will have to brave their way through a dragon-guarded gate before making it safely to story time inside a special castle being built in Troy.

The huge structure within a structure will be part of the children’s area in the new Troy Public Library where the children’s librarian office, a circulation desk and a puppet theater also will be housed.

“We attacked this project with the hope that we would exceed people’s expectations,” said Library Director William White. “We are all working well together to see this project through to the end.”

Work on the 24,000-square-foot library began last summer and White said he hopes to see doors open to the public by the end of May, but it could be early June.

Workers are beginning to marbleize columns and other features inside the library on Walnut Street and the castle will go up next week.

Another new feature White is pleased to share with the community is a special young-adult section that will allow teens to read as they sit in a cafe setting complete with restaurant-style booths.

“That’s one of the things I am very excited about,” White said. “It’s a place just for them, and young adults in this area have never really had that.”

White said the library project is scheduled to come in under its $4 million budget and will include room to expand the library’s collection for at least 30 years.

Upgrades for adults include a state-of-the art meeting room with an 11-foot diagonal high definition screen compatible with iPhones and iPads. And the entire library is wireless.

Also, White said he’ll be expanding the once teen-only murder mystery lock-ins to include some sessions for adults.

“We plan to incorporate surveillance footage,” White said, “with (theatrical) shootings.”

Still to go on the outside of the library is landscaping for a reading garden, but White said that should be finished before the building opens. Ample parking has already been put in place.

“We are moving away from a traditional public library,” White said. “We manage information and information comes in a variety of forms. We want to be a community resource center, not just a repository for books.”