Pearl River Library Kicks Off Renovations

On Wednesday, August 20, Pearl River Public Library administrators and trustees were joined by local dignitaries to officially kick off major renovations to the library building.

The celebration marked an important milestone in the $20 million Library Renewal Project, funded through a $14.3 million bond referendum approved by local voters in May 2023, along with grants and the library’s capital savings.

The “extreme makeover” will rehabilitate and modernize the existing library structure to provide much-needed program and service improvements. Renovations will address significant space deficits and long-standing accessibility challenges, ensuring the library can meet the needs of the community for decades to come.

“It’s been a long road, with a great deal of planning and hard work to reach this point,” said Library Director Nancy Shah. “I am deeply grateful to everyone who helped to make this day possible, especially our Buildings and Grounds Committee and our project managers at Calgi Construction. We are excited to see our dreams for a new library take shape as we move into the construction phase.”

The event, held at the library at 80 Franklin Avenue in Pearl River, featured remarks from library leadership and local officials, as well as a ceremonial start to the renovation work.

“It’s a pleasure to see two years of diligent work and hopeful anticipation come to fruition,” said Irene D’Anna, library trustee and member of the Buildings and Grounds Committee. “Thanks to the unrelenting dedication of our architects, construction managers, library board members and library directors, we are seeing the fruits of our labor ready to bloom. We can’t wait to begin this magnificent project and see it through to completion.”

The Library Renewal Project has five primary goals to address challenges while building upon the strengths and assets of the existing facility to create a 21st-century community library that will welcome, serve and inspire all patrons for generations.

The first goal is to improve and expand the library, making it more accommodating for all patrons and users. This will be achieved through increasing the size of public spaces as well as use-specific spaces such as the highly popular Learning Lab. As part of their improvement, the library also plans to increase tech infrastructure and materials for patrons young and old.

Part of creating a true community library is making all spaces accessible and barrier free. This will include design and lighting elements, parking improvements, and expanded accessibility accommodations.

In order to make the space accessible, the library must be functional. For this to happen, the library must address issues of flexibility, sustainability, energy efficiency, infrastructure reliability, and resiliency within the existing building.

With these improvements, the Pearl River Library is excited to provide an improved experience and service to patrons and continue being the heart of the town.

As the library undergoes this makeover, they hope to use these improvements to help position themselves as the primary steward and curator of local archives and collections.

For more information about the Library Renewal Project, visit pearlriverlibrary.org.