Library Expansion

 

Thanks to the support of the Washington County Riverboat Foundation and City of Wellman, our library recently completed a large expansion.  This project allowed us to double our space which created room for more shelving to contain our collection that had fully outgrown our previous space.  In addition to more room for our collection, we also were able to add much needed bathrooms, a program room, study room, staff work space, and storage.  All were lacking in our previous library space.

 

 

Library Floor Plans

 

With the guidance of Martin Gardner Architecture, the library created this plan for expansion:

 

 

Photos of the Library Before Expanding

 

Our library was a nice space, but we had definitely outgrown it.  Our shelves will full, leading to the need to shelve books on top of our lower shelving units.  We had no storage available for seasonal items such as our Halloween costumes. Our programs filled the space in our Children's area, preventing that section from being used during program times. This space served us well for decades, but it was time for a change. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The previously unused space:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving Downtown

 

With the help of many volunteers, we packed up the library and moved to our temporary location in the Driscoll Building downtown.  Since the space was much smaller than the current library, part of our collection, much of our furniture, and anything that wasn't essential to basic library operations was stored away in a storage building awaiting the completion of the expansion.  A huge thank you again to everyone who came out and made this move possible.  Our board and staff are immensely grateful for your help and support!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction at the Library

 

While we were downtown, the library underwent some major changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last and Final Move

 

Words cannot express how immensely grateful we are to everyone who came out to volunteer their help as we moved.  This community is amazing and we are beyond proud to serve it.  We could not have made this move without your support!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expansion Video

 

To celebrate the completion of the expansion, we have created this video to commemorate this big moment in our library history and see just how far the Wellman Public Library has come the more than a century it has served the community.