Construction photo update

Since our last update, more of the roof has been put into place:



Cinder blocks and girders have been stacked outside of the Friends of the Library bookstore, ready for the next phase of construction:



More photos are available on our Flickr page.

Construction photo update

It's been a few months since the last construction photo update. This week the first parts of the roof are being installed.





Parking on the side of the street closest to the library is unavailable during the day, since there's a huge crane in the way:



More photos are available on our Flickr page.

Construction photo update

Another week, another wall torn down. Lines have been painted to mark the future curved wall around the kids' area and south entrance.



The west wall has been removed from the community room:



The concrete around the foundations has also been removed, in preparation for the new boundaries and the outdoor patio around the south end of the building.



More pictures are available on our Flickr page.

Construction photo update

We're now into the second phase of our construction. In our last construction photo update, the front desk had been relocated, a new self-checkout counter and book return had been installed, and work had just begun on the community room.

Now, nine months later, there have been even more changes. After our groundbreaking ceremony on September 16, construction began in earnest on the south side of the library.



It took about a week to prepare the old kids' area and south side of the building for the coming demolition.



Fences were placed around the south part of the building:



Once the interior wall was put up . . .



. . . demolition could begin on the south side of the building:



The Friends of the Library will endeavor to keep the Book Nook open as much as possible. For now, the bookstore is setup in the community room, accessible from within the library.



The kids' area has been relocated to the northwest corner of the building. The teen section is on the north-facing book shelves. The whole area is a bit smaller, so our materials collection has been temporarily reduced. Once construction is finished sometime next spring, the kids' and teens sections will be moved back to the southwest corner, and will be about double the size of the old space.



That's it for now! More pictures are available on our Flickr page.

Construction photo update

Another month, another piece in the ongoing renovation.

This month, we have a new fixture on the floor:



This is our new "waterfall" display. One of our amazing, outstanding volunteers filled it with new and popular music on both sides. Hopefully, by moving the most popular items out to the floor, it should be easier for patrons to browse our music collection. Folks are used to browsing CDs at music stoors, so this should be a similar experience, with the album covers facing out.



At the moment, the top shelf holds all the oversized CD cases. You can expect this to change over time, the corner shelves, too. We plan to put out staff-recommended titles, local artists, companion books, artist spotlights, and other themed displays.



Got any ideas for what you'd like to see? Tell us!

Construction photo update

It's only January, but much of the interior remodeling has been completed.

Here's the old circulation desk, back in December 2009:



And here's how the area looks now:



These are the shelves for the new books, Reader's Express books, Viewer's Express movies, and DVDs. There will be more shelves added soon.

The bookdrop side of the old desk:



It now looks like this:



The wall where the circulation desk used to be now has the inside bookdrop slots:



The circulation desk has been relocated closer to the south entrance. This will be the future middle of the building. The second phase of construction later this year will expand the south half of the library, enlarging the community room, kids' area, and more.

The new circulation desk:



The old north entrance area:



The new self checkout desk:



These are our self checkout machines. They're really simple to use. All you have to do is scan your card, set your stack of books/music/whatever on the mat, and the machine checks it out for you and prints a receipt. Nifty!

In December, the community room looked like this:



It's been cleaned up considerably:



However, there's still a long way to go before it's finished. The work to expand the community room will begin in a few months.

More pictures can be found on the SDCL Flickr page.

Library open

The Cardiff library is now open! There's still a bit of work left to do, but much of the interior renovation has been completed.

We're back to our normal business hours:

Monday & Tuesday 9:30 - 6:00
Wednesday & Thursday 9:30 - 8:00
Friday & Saturday 9:30 - 5:00

Construction photo update

The library may be closed, but work continues on the interior renovations.

Here's a view of the entrance. That's the new self checkout desk under the tarps.



This used to be the circulation desk. For now, you just see the back office, but soon there will be displays for books'n'stuff.



Power and data cables are needed for the improvements to the computer room and new circulation desk, so the floor's been dug up.





Work continues in the community room, too. The kitchen wall has been knocked out. These changes are the first stage of enlarging the room. When it's all done, it'll be bigger and better.



That's it for now. More pictures will appear on the SDCL Flickr page.

Library closed December 21 - January 6

The library and the Friends of the Library bookstore will be closed from Monday, December 21 though Wednesday, January 6 for interior renovations.

During this time, please visit the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Dr, or the Solana Beach Library, 157 Stevens Ave.