With years of complaints and feedback, the Hall County Library is finally getting the facelift they have been wanting.
“We have one of the smallest library headquarters in the state of Georgia for a community anywhere close to this size,” Lisa MacKinney, the Hall County Library director, said.
According to Mackinney, the library was inefficient and didn’t offer certain amenities and spaces to the community that most libraries offer. Mackinney named meeting rooms, study rooms and community rooms as vital components to a library, which Hall County lacked.
Public libraries often focus on children departments, offer story time rooms and places for children to get involved - another aspect the Hall County library was missing, MacKinney said. But the other concern, was for the safety of the children visiting the county library, because in the old layout, the children’s section was located directly in front of the library entrance, she said.
“It will be much better when we reopen,” Mackinney said. “The younger the child, the further from the entrance they will be.”
Temporarily, the library is located across the street from its current location at the old Turner Wood and Smith insurance building. The old building was bought out by the City of Gainesville a couple of years ago, so when it came time to renovate, MacKinney said the library requested they rent the old building while the construction was underway. The library was granted the space for $1 a month, she said.
“We could not be more appreciative of how they’ve worked with us,” MacKinney said. “The county and the city have both been amazing during this project.”
The library can’t hold their entire collection in the temporary space, but they are able to offer their services and amenities to the community until the new build is complete. And In the meantime, people are visiting the rented space and the other library branches spread across Hall County, MacKinney said.
The renovated building is set for completion summer 2020 with an estimated $5 million budget.
