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Library making renovation plans, offering special programs for 50th anniversary

Courtesy Photo The children’s section has long been a popular spot at Alpena County Library. During its 50th anniversary year in 2017, the library will promote a new children’s reading project called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. Parents will be encouraged to read 1,000 books to their children between ages newborn.

Courtesy Photo The children's section has long been a popular spot at Alpena County Library. During its 50th anniversary year in 2017, the library will promote a new children's reading project called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. Parents will be encouraged to read 1,000 books to their children between ages newborn.

Courtesy Photo
The children’s section has long been a popular spot at Alpena County Library. During its 50th anniversary year in 2017, the library will promote a new children’s reading project called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. Parents will be encouraged to read 1,000 books to their children between ages newborn.

June 8 marks the date of Alpena County Library’s 50th anniversary, but officials have been eyeing the milestone well in advance. Not only has special programming been added to the yearly calendar, including an anniversary gala in June, but the library also plans to update the physical infrastructure of its building.

“It’s exciting that we’ve been around that long,” said Director Eric Magness-Eubank.

The formation of a library corporation and the establishment of a county-wide library first occurred in 1967. At that time, the library was a part of Alpena Public Schools. That arrangement continued until a new but temporary location was found on Second Avenue.

The current library building at 211 N. First was constructed in 1974, and is showing its age, particularly in regards to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Magness-Eubank and the library’s board of directors also are looking at ways to make more efficient use of the existing building to meet the need for more space.

Toward that end, the library has engaged the services of Quinn Evans of Ann Arbor, a topnotch architectural firm that has worked on more than 200 public library projects.

“We have been working with their public library specialists to develop a master plan of renovations to ensure the long-term success of the library,” Magness-Eubank said. “At this point, no decisions have been made concerning the scale and scope of renovations.”

Among possible changes are a new entryway and elevator that would connect the original library space with the expansion into the Northern Eye building that was done over a decade ago. Also under consideration are removal of the library’s central stairwell and its second major entry point to again make better usage of space and for security concerns.

“We haven’t decided on any of this and we’re probably still months away from whether we’re going to look at doing it in phases and at what kind of cost,” Magness-Eubank said.

He said Quinn Evans is in the process of drawing up various options and that getting public input on proposed renovations will be a key component of the overall plan.

The library has funds set aside for renovations but also will be looking to raise additional money to cover the full cost of the project. Since the project still is in the planning stages, there currently is no established timeline for when actual construction would begin.

As for events planned around the 50th anniversary, the library hopes to offer one special program or activity each month starting with the Moxie Strings on Jan. 27 at 2 p.m.

“We will be having many special events and activities throughout the year to celebrate our milestone,” Magness-Eubank said.

In addition to programming, he is enthused about the start up of a new early childhood literacy-project called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten.

“The project basically promotes having parents read a total of 1,000 books to their children from birth to kindergarten,” he said. “There’s a big division between parents who read to their kids and those who don’t. If parents read about 200 books a year from birth to age 5 that would make a significant difference.”

Studies show, he said, that a significant amount of educational development takes place between birth and age 3.

“As a society, we’re not set up to reach that potential,” he said. “We’re more geared up for when a child starts school or preschool.”

The library will help to promote the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten project and provide materials for the right age groups. It is expected to begin in March.

Some of the other upcoming programs for this anniversary year include:

∫ Native Voices, a national traveling exhibit that focuses on Native American culture

∫ World War I traveling exhibit to commemorate 100th anniversary

∫ Alpena Book Festival participation

∫ Fall author event

∫ Story Walk installation

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