Packing up: Books being boxed as Amherst library prepares for construction

AMHERST — A moving truck backed up to the Amherst Public Library early Friday, and workers got busy unloading pallet after pallet of cardboard boxes — 640 in all. It's the second such load Brunswick-based Armbruster Moving & Storage has delivered in the last few weeks. Librarians have filled and stacked another 600 boxes inside. "That's just going to get us through phase one," library Director Don Dovala said. By the time they're done, 30,000 items — mostly books — will be packed and shipped to a warehouse for safekeeping. They'll remain there while Turner Construction of Cleveland builds a $5.6 million addition on the Amherst library's south face. Originally planned at $5 million before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cost of materials to spike, that price tag could peak at $5.7 million, Dovala said. The massive project will be carried out in three phases. Pre-construction setup will begin Tuesday with the erection of temporary fencing and removal of landscaping. The week of July 12, demolition will get underway as workers jackhammer six parking spaces to clear ground for the two-story addition. That will mean closing the building's main entrance through March or April. Instead, patrons will enter the library through the Spring Street entrance on the west side. Expect plenty of parking spaces to remain available, Dovala said. There is an overflow lot across Spring Street, and construction workers will park at the former Amherst Board of Education offices on Forest Street. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. July 21. The first phase of work — the addition itself — will continue through the end of the year. Visitors will still be able to use parts of the existing building, but will only have access to about half the Amherst library's collection. "This whole area needs to be vacated so they can break through the walls and do their work," Dovala said, waving at the fiction section on the ground floor. The children's and nonfiction sections on the second floor also will be closed, though access to computers and other materials will remain. The second phase is expected to begin in early 2022. The second floor will be closed to the public for renovation and items will all be migrated to the ground floor. The situation will eventually be flip-flopped to finish up. There may be a time during the final phase — February or March — where the library will only be able to offer curbside service, Dovala said. Librarians still would run books, movies and games out to patrons' vehicles like they did during the depths of the pandemic. "It's kind of a chess game as we move all the pieces," Dovala said. The goal is to stay as functional as possible for the next nine or 10 months, he said. There may be fewer books and less programming than normal, but the library isn't going away — it's just scaling back, with plans to return in full force with a grand opening next spring. The finished product will boast new features, such as meeting rooms, an outdoor deck and a drive-up book return. But the most marked difference will be how space is set aside for different age groups, Dovala said. "This library, up to now, has the challenge of having the children's section next to the adult area," he said. "Now we're going to have a top floor that's just for young adults, kids and families. Kids can be kids without worrying about disturbing anyone." Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.