Community Corner

Phoenixville Library Gearing Up for $1 Million Renovation Project

The footprint of the building will remain the same, and the library should remain open during the renovations.

At Thursday's Phoenixville Area School Board meeting, members will hear a presentation on the 's planned $1 million renovation. 

The library's foundation received $450,000 in state money from a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Grant and then had the challenge of raising $573,000 in matching funds. Back in March, fundraisers $533,000, leaving just $40,000 to meet the goal. 

According to a previous Patch article on the renovation, the footprint of the library will remain the same. 

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Working with Phoenixville’s Carnevale Eustis Architects, the library will expand the children’s department, enlarge and relocate the computer center and develop a more defined area for young adults.

'Our library is known for its children’s programming, and we definitely want to address those needs,' said Susan Mostek, executive director of the library foundation and the director of development and marketing.

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The community room in the basement will move to where the technical processing area sits now, which will allow more room for the children’s department. The community room itself will be a bigger space. Upstairs, the computer center will be moved to the area where the executive director’s office is now, behind the check-out counter. A defined young adult area will be carved out in the section where DVDs are currently located.

In preparation for the renovations, the library is asking patrons to hold off on any book donations. 

"Due to upcoming renovations, donations of books or other library materials (DVDs, music CDs, etc.) will not be accepted at Phoenixville Public Library after Nov. 30, 2011, until further notice," a recent e-mail from the adult services director states. "The Library apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause." 

When interviewed in March, Mostek said patrons should still be able to use the library throughout the renovations. 

The updated plans will be presented to the school board at a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9 starting at 7 p.m. in the district's new administration building. 


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