By John Saccenti,Staff Writer
PLAINSBORO — After almost a year of delays, Plainsboro finally has received a temporary certificate of occupancy for its new public library and has scheduled a opening celebration for the first week in April.
During the next several weeks, Library Director Virginia Baeckler and others will begin moving 100,000 books, furniture, public access computers and a whole lot more to the new 34,000-square-foot facility in Plainsboro Village.
Work began on the $12.5 million building in December 2007 and after several recent delays is expected to open to the public with a celebration April 9. The temporary CO was granted Feb. 12.
While there are still a few small things that need to be done, Ms. Baeckler said she is thrilled with how the project turned out.
”The community room is smashing; the furniture is all in. The colors are just as glorious and delicious as we thought they would be,” Ms. Baeckler said.
The library in the Municipal Complex will close March 22, giving the township several weeks to move everything to the new location.
The current library is expected to be renovated and used for recreational and cultural events. Township Administrator Robert Sheehan said the township is working on plans and cost estimates, but nothing is finalized yet.
The new building will allow the library to expand its collection as well as its services. All three floors will have WiFi, and there will be 20 new public-access computers, meeting rooms and classrooms. The first floor will have a dedicated art gallery where patrons can see exhibits and displays any time during library hours.
The second floor will have four study rooms to be used for English as a Second Language classes, literacy tutoring, exam proctoring and more. It also will have a health education center provided by Bristol-Myers Squibb with literature, databases and more.
The third floor will be a children’s area with space for activities and a section for adults. There also will be program spaces for story hours and a special projection system that allows images to be projected from the floor onto the ceiling. The slanted ceiling will be able to project those images outside into the center of the Municipal Plaza.
Following the celebration, the library will begin full service beginning April 10 at 10 a.m.
The celebration will include an opening parade led by the library’s puppets from the current library to the new one. In addition, Jin Huo Long (the library’s resident New Year’s dragon) will awaken from his winter’s sleep to take part in the occasion.
The parade will mimic the one used to open the library’s current location in 1993 when a parade of children with little red wagons helped to move the children’s section items from one location to another.
”It’s just a big sigh of relief that we’ve made it here,” said Ms. Baeckler.
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