On July 8, 2021, Greece Town Supervisor Bill Reilich was joined by Deputy Supervisor Michelle Marini, Greece Town Board Members Mike Barry, Mike Bloomer, Bill Murphy, and Diana Christodaro, Greece Receiver of Taxes Andrew Conlon, State Assemblyman Joshua Jensen, Greece Public Library Director Cassie Guthrie, Assistant Director Keith Suhr, and Children’s Librarian Jen Pressier for the official Grand Opening of the new Greece Public Library Children’s Center.
Also in attendance for the Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony were members of the Library Board and members of the construction team, including Construction Manager John Radesi from Christa Construction; architects Emily Connors and Peter Wehner from Passero Associates; General Contractor, DiPasquale Construction Company; Electrical Work, Mylerson Electric, and Plumbing/HVAC, Landry Mechanical.
This project is a culmination of several months of planning to create a new state-of-the-art space for young residents.
Between 2017 and 2019, there were over 60,000 attendees of Children’s Programs at the Library, and an additional 15,000 attendees of our early literacy programs. Additionally, our Summer Reading program saw a 21% increase in enrollment. In 2019 – nearly 30% of all materials borrowed were from the Children’s Room.
These figures made it very easy to evaluate that we needed more dedicated space for our youngest patrons.
Our former Children’s space was only 3,000 sq. feet, very small when you look at the number of little readers we welcome each year. As a result of several surveys and customer input, we gathered a great deal of data that helped us know that this was the right direction to take.
With careful planning and budgeting, the entire expansion was paid for in cash. There was no borrowing and no increased tax burdens placed on our residents.
“Our library is ever growing and ever changing as we started to track the popularity of our programs and the requests of our community. This is the road map we take, we listen to requests made and typically we survey our residents to help us decide which direction to take,” said Supervisor Reilich. “We are always looking for ways to bring new and innovative amenities to our community. This project is one of the many brought forth so the residents of Greece, both young and old, can stay close to home and enjoy all that we have to offer in Greece. I am so happy to be able to open this space to the entire community, and I know it will be enjoyed by everyone.”
The Children’s Library Expansion named “Story Garden” is located in the Greece Public Library Main Branch, 2 Vince Tofany Boulevard. The expansion includes approximately 7,000 sq. feet of additional space bringing the total space to 10,125 sq. feet dedicated to our youngest patrons. New features include a covered outdoor children’s story time patio, a rotunda play area complete with a “grocery store” checkout station, a planting garden, a play castle and a kitchen and chairs for serving up some make believe meals. The mezzanine features a life size interactive tree with a magical fairy ball delivery system and the upper level hosts a magnetic “gear” display and ball path. The entrance boosts a life size “lite brite,” a lit up play surface, curved seating, butterfly wings for photographing our baby bugs graduates and many dedicated areas are positioned throughout for children to settle in and enjoy a good read. The entire space features energy efficient LED lighting, a fully dedicated children’s bathroom with kid sized amenities, a new story and craft room with radiant floor heating, centrally located staff offices, skylights and a new children’s librarian reference desk.
The Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony is available to view https://www.facebook.com/488197104572689/videos/520298839212084
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