Melody Scagnelli-Townley, Interim Director of the Bayonne Public Library, has issued an update concerning the multiple renovations that have been taking place this year in the library building at 31^st Street and Avenue C. 

The library’s old boiler system has been dismantled and removed.  Scagnelli-Townley reported that the new boiler “is halfway through installation.”  The mechanicals and the cab have been removed from the library’s public elevator. Scagnelli-Townley reported that “the new elevator cab will be installed soon.”

The library’s main lobby (Circulation) and the dais, where new books were displayed, “were taken down to the studs,” Scagnelli-Townley said.  A new handicap-accessible ramp has been built to the dais. To accommodate the new ramp, the entrance from Circulation to the Popular Fiction Room was relocated.  The Circulation area has been moved to the center of the lobby.   A brand-new Circulation Desk, which incorporates a circulation desk from the 1950’s, is being custom-built.  Scagnelli-Townley stated, “Brand new tile flooring for the whole lobby is coming soon.” 

The Interim Director reported that the library’s Children’s Room “was taken down to the studs.”  She added, “Now, new lighting and a new ceiling have been installed.  A brand-new Story Time area with stadium seating and special lighting is starting to take shape.”

Workers have drilled holes through the floor of the Reference Room in preparation for “new, wired charging study tables and new computer carrels.”  Scagnelli-Townley said that the library staff is still waiting for “the arrival of brand-new, ADA-compliant furniture for the lobby, the Reference Room, and the Children’s Room.”  (ADA refers to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal law that provides for facilities that are compatible with the needs of handicapped people.)

Scagnelli-Townley commented, “So many exciting things are happening! Naturally, such big changes take time.  We are currently anticipating that we will be open to the public at our 31^st Street building by the end of November.”  She continued, “To be sure, re-opening the library will depend on making steady progress for the next two months.  We will not announce a specific date for re-opening the library until we are certain that the time is right.”

She continued, “Until such time, we will continue to be available for you at our temporary Story Court branch (16 West 4^th Street), where you can access many of the same features you love at our 31^st Street building: computers, printing, copying, study space, device charging, and book-borrowing and returns.”

Scagnelli-Townley concluded, “Great things are coming!”