The Pitkin County Library is moving to another location next week to make room for its expansion and remodeling project. Aspen Public Radio’s Carolyn Sackariason has more.
The library inked a lease with the city of Aspen to take over the old art museum for the next 8 months rent free. The library will pick up utilities. Head Librarian Kathy Chandler is hoping the majority of construction is done by the time the lease is up. Then they’ll move back to the library building while construction continues.The expansion will add 5,100 square feet.
“It will be far enough along at least for us to move out. Initially we were thinking it might go on into the summer so I am not really sure exactly when everything will be buttoned down, tiddyed up and finished but we figured that if we could be out of the building for that long, it’s going to speed that project up,” she says.
A limited supply of library resources and services will be housed in the Old Power House, on North Mill St. The temporary location is 26,000 square feet smaller, so the entire collection will not be available but there is access to millions of additional items through partnering libraries. The temporary location will have the complete kids’ collection, new nonfiction and fiction books, the young adult collection, all dvds and some books on CD and music CDs.
The library will close at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 29 while staff packs up books, shelving, computers and other items. It will re-open in the new space six days later, on June 5th. Carolyn Sackariason, Aspen Public Radio news.