By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Nine months and a little more than $3 million later, Princeton Public Library Executive Director Brett Bonfield on Saturday helped to unveil the renovated second floor that added more meeting space and technology and drew accolades from the customers seeing it for the first time., The renovations and changes, including quiet study rooms equipped with monitors, books arranged by subject like in book stores and other features, reflected the way an excellent library seeks to meet the evolving needs of the community it serves, officials said at the grand reopening., “With the launch of this extraordinary and flexible environment, with its cutting edge resources, we know that the Princeton Public Library will continue to trail blaze best practices among libraries,” said library board president Kevin Royer before the ribbon-cutting ceremony., The “2Reimagine” renovation, as the mostly privately financed project was dubbed, was conceived of during the tenure of former library director Leslie Burger. She was not there Saturday or even mentioned by any of the speakers, but she did return earlier in the week for a private tour of the renovations. A section of the new floor was named after her., It was left to Bonfield, who took over from Burger in 2016, and his staff to see the project through, a task that involved storing 30,000 books off site and making due with two out of three floors available for customers., “One of the things that makes our public library the best public library is that we have the best staff,” said Mayor Liz Lempert, who sits on the library’s board. “And I know the staff and everybody who’s been working so hard has been counting the minutes until [Saturday], when it becomes real.”, Speaking for around 10 minutes, Bonfield reflected on why Princeton, an already popular and highly regarded library in an Ivy League town, took on the project in the first place. He said libraries must reflect “that society itself is constantly changing” and pointed to the needs Princeton patrons wanted for technology instruction, work, study and meeting space, among other things., “We can never stop reviewing and improving the methods we use to meet and exceed your needs and expectations,” he said. “It is imperative that the Princeton Public Library’s collection, services, programs and staff reflect and anticipate this community’s evolving needs.”, The library is, and has been, a popular spot to find books, attend a lecture or other program through the year or find a quiet place to work., “Our library, like the best of the leading libraries, is much more than a repository of books,” Royer said. “It’s a dynamic, technology-enabled hub of multi-faceted resources providing knowledge, skills, access and spaces for civic and intellectual engagement and discussion.”, The reopening, including a day of author talks and other events, saw members of the public milling about to take in all the changes., “It’s incredibly impressive,” said Dorothea von Moltke, an owner of Labyrinth Books, on Nassau Street., “This is awesome,” said patron Johanne Arseneault in saying officials made a “really good library even better.”, “If we are to going to satisfy the demands of our spirit of inquiry,” Bonfield said, “we need to acknowledge everyone who makes this a great library. That means our entire community. And it means you.”
