Ribbon cutting for Millersburg library to open new facility
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
The Presque Isle District Library in Millersburg, the first expanded library facility in the county since 1993, will open its doors for the first time Tuesday with all the fanfare one would expect from a hometown branch.
Library board chairman Beach Hall will join Case Township officials in launching what many in Millersburg hope will be a long-term relationship. The library board voted in February to open the new branch on a six-month trial basis to see if it catches on.
Following the ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. the facility will officially be open for business, and will have nearly all the amenities enjoyed at other branches.
?ONLY IT?S smaller,? said director Jan Stevenson, who was working with library staff Wednesday afternoon to fill the shelves.
To say township supervisor Dean Storms, who was on forefront of trying to secure the addition to the former Millersburg Elementary School, is pleased would be an understatement.
?The library has exceeded my fondest dreams,? said Storms. ?It will have the same resources any of the other branches have. Everybody I talk to in the community is very excited about it.?
A luncheon of hot dogs, chips and drinks will be served immediately after the ribbon cutting. There also will be drawings of different items.
?WE’RE GOING to do everything we can do to make it what Millersburg needs,? said Stevenson. ?The collection is small now, but there is room for expansion. We?re excited about that.?
?I tried to get some of the more popular, new authors,? said assistant director Carolyn Chrzan. ?What was donated, we took a look at what shape they were in, how old they were.? Books from other branches were pulled and brought to Millersburg. There have been some ?excellent? donations, said Stevenson.
There will be DVD movies, audio books, as well as a few video games. Stevenson said they are missing an encyclopedia collection, but that will have to be a purchase at a later day, since the director wants a newer edition.
Books not avai
The library will subscribe to the Outlook and Advance and have used magazines available. There also will be a reading program this summer. The branch is in the first room in the northwest corner of the building, where the former school library was located. Storms said if more room is needed, they could open the adjacent room. ?You?ve got to start and see where it goes,? said Storms.
A drop box, which was handmade by former library board trustee Tom Stone, will be located in the lobby so patrons can drop off their materials after hours. And how many libraries have playgrounds? The Case Township building does.