It's been an interesting week...

Well, I'm sure by now most of you have heard of our little episode with the small electrical fire in the temporary location. Thankfully, nothing was harmed, and the only problem we had was a bit of smoke. And a melted transformer, but that has been replaced, and all is (hopefully) well. Sigh. Is it July yet?

The good news is they are really slamming over at the real library. The breathtaking entrance facade is going up at a very rapid pace, and the feeling of open and welcome permeates that space. Even the guys working the site tell us how much they like the overall design of the building.

Some of the service desks are in place, including the Young Adult desk

and the main Children's desk.

The tack board for the Children's area is also going up, and plans are already underway to design some cool displays. The pendant lights that will hang over the story circle are in place, and have been unwrapped. The glass is gorgeous and comes in three colors:

Amber

Blue

& Clear


It all looks tres cool!

We also have WATER FOUNTAINS!!! No more will you have to get a tiny Dixie Cup at the front desk and use the bathroom water. Wait, that did not come out right. Let me rephrase. No more will you have to use the water from the bathroom faucet. Does that sound better?

The landscaping is continuing, with some of the new trees already planted along Swift Avenue, and some really pretty flowering things in the parking lot. (Can you tell I'm not the most knowledgeable about plant names?)

Lisa and I want to let all of you know how much we appreciate the comments about the blog, and encourage all to leave us a little note if you can. Thanks for all your support, and just think, we are just a few months away from leaving the temp space and moving back to our beautiful new space. Personally, I cannot wait to get back home!

Theresa

From the Road...

Hello all from Sunny & Chilly Spokane! Lisa and I are at the Washington Library Association conference in Spokane Thursday - Saturday. As always, these conferences are fun, informative, very social, and completely exhausting! This is also the conference that Lisa receives her award for being the WALE employee of the year. She has to give a speech today, and is a bit freaked out about the whole thing so, of course, I am doing my part to be supportive and patient and secretly laughing at her at all times.

Over at the site, Wednesday was a beautiful day, and the first Wednesday morning in a long time that was sunny! Against the bright blue sky, the recycled metal panels gleam, and the brick looks completely rejuvenated. The glass wall on the front of the library was being installed that morning, and looks marvelous. If you look carefully, you can see that some parts of the windows are fritted glass. That is (apparently) carefully designed to make sure that the "hot" spots are given some protection. This is just one of the ways we have strived to keep costs down in the building and create a better world by using less energy in heating and cooling. Of course, it looks pretty cool too!

Most of the Sumac is planted, and some of the trees are going up in the parking lot. Every week gets closer and closer to us moving back home, and we are all so excited. We're also by turns nervous, scared, on the verge of a breakdown, and hysterical, but I think most of us should make it through this time with our sanity relatively intact. And some of us, I had my doubts about their sanity before we started this project, so I'm not blaming the move on their peculiarities!

Theresa
A quick note from Lisa - yes, I am freaking out about having to speak in front of hundreds of people, so have ducked into the motel room for a quick re-visit of my speech. As any of you who know me know, I LOVE to talk! I just hate public speaking. The conference has been fun and Theresa and I have diligently inspected our beds for bedbugs. Luckily, we didn't find any. (Today Show special report the day before we left)

On a building note, mark your calendars for Saturday, August 8th. We are planning an all-day blowout of activities from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. We will have children's programs, music, demonstrations, and even a couple of local Blues Bands to finish off the evening with a rockin' good time.

Let me give you some dirt...

Now that the weather is finally becoming a bit more Spring-like, you will see lots of activities on the outside of the building. The metal panel work is finishing up, as well as all of the window work. Down on the ground, there are lots of people spreading and planting beautiful plants. In the parking lot, they are putting in dwarf sumac and spreading lots of dirt and mulch. Pretty soon you should be able to see some new trees going in as well.

Inside the building, they are still working on the concrete floor in the entrance. When we were over there Wednesday, they were also installing the pendant lights that will hang above the new story circle. Bathrooms are being tiled, and they include the really pretty accent glass tiles.

(This picture tickles me -- can't you just hear "Workin' in a coal mine Goin' down down down Workin' in a coal mine Whoop! about to slip down..." )

Even with all the tools and gadgets and assorted junk that is in the building right now, the open airy feeling permeates the entire space. We are all looking forward to moving home very soon. The countdown is on for us, and we are frantically attempting to get everything together so the move back will be as smooth as possible.

We still don't have a firm date for the closure and move, we are going forward with the assumption of a mid July date, but as anyone who has ever built a house or added on an extension knows, something always comes up, so we are not publishing a specific date right now. Just know that we are all working as hard as we can to get back home as fast as we can --- if our collective mental powers were strong enough, we'd be back home already!

Have a wonderful week, and if you happen to be walking by the site and see some of the guys diligently working away, let them know how much you appreciate them -- they are working very hard to see that our library is the best it can be!

Theresa