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I've been writing about Mifflin County Library renovations for quite some time now. It's all very exciting and I can't thank the commissioners and county maintenance enough for the work done to the library.
For the past several months, as library patrons enter the building, many of them say, "Oh! What's going on outside?" The staff and I always answer the same way and sort of along the lines of, "The library is being added on to and also Penn State Extension will be moving in with us."
There have been a few people who don't know what Penn State Extension does, so normally the conversation goes into the little details of 4-H or the Master Gardeners and things like that. Some of the time, conversation about the expansion to the library is brushed aside because library users are curious about another agency moving into the same building as the library.
Having a library and another agency in the same building isn't unheard of but it is sort of rare. While Juniata County Library has the Juniata County Extension office in that library, not many libraries have other agencies with them. As a result, the conversation tends to focus on, "How will that work?" It will work out just fine as far as I'm concerned. I just want people to use the library.
The overall building will be called "Mifflin County Community Learning Center." Penn State Extension offers so many opportunities to learn about lots of different things, mostly agricultural, which is awesome because the university started as a school of agriculture in the late 1800s. And then, of course, the library offers Endless Possibilities (our slogan) for learning opportunities with our books (which total over 50,000 items), our public computers, Interlibrary Loan, and our digital library (Libby) that gives you access to 24,000 books and magazines on your cellphone.
But more and more recently, library patrons are coming to the library and saying, "Wait. Is the library actually going to be bigger?"
Yes!
That's why this whole thing has me so pumped. Not only are we adding onto the library to welcome a partnering agency, we are adding onto the library to have more room for the things that the library needs. For years, we needed to make our Children's Library more accessible and visible. After all, for every one adult fiction book that is checked out, between five and seven children's books are checked out. The Children's Library is MCL's biggest draw. The jewel in our crown, as they say. Now that the Children's Library has been renovated and made to look fabulous, it's time to make the upper level more inviting.
And most of it is, with the new lighting system and new carpet and fresh paint. When our project is done, we'll have smaller meeting rooms, an adult programming area and a North Wing that will be almost double in size for more books.
This project has been very intentional and every step has been planned. I really appreciate your patience with us. Things are moving very quickly now. And you know what I always say? You'll love it when it's done.
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Susan Miriello is the Executive Director of the Mifflin County Library. You can call the library at (717) 242-2391. Kish Library's phone number is (717) 935-2880. Visit the library website at www.mifflincountylibrary.org.