Renovations complete at library

WESLACO — Noticeable changes greet local residents as they enter the Weslaco Public Library after the facility was closed for more than a month for renovations.

The library re-opened Friday after work crews finished installing new carpet and rearranging some of the sections.

Library Director Michael Fisher said the building now has similar carpet to what is used in airport terminals, a perfect fit for the library, since the building serves as many as 300,000 visitors each year, Fisher said.

"You know how busy (Chicago) O'Hare Airport gets," Fisher said. "That's the carpet we wanted. We wanted a carpet that's going to holdup." 

 
The renovation was anticipated to cost $200,000, which was funded through the city's 2007 bond issue. But the actual cost for the project turned lower than planned, coming in at approximately $173,000, Fisher said.

Assistant library director Jesus Campos said the building has two types of carpet, including a more abrasive type near the entrances to help collect dust and debris as visitors enter the building.

"If you pick the dust and dirt in the first 25 feet, you've solved about 80 percent of the maintenance problem," Fisher said. "It preserves your books with the dust not being in the air depositing on the books."

Campos said the second type of carpet consists of a random pattern, making it easily replaceable if necessary.

"If there's something we can't fix or clean, we can replace the tile, we make sure we've got extra tile," he said.

Fisher said the new carpeting could last 20 years. During the renovation, work crews also cleaned air conditioning ducting throughout the building, move and relocated furniture and rerouted computer cabling.

The library also received chairs during the round of upgrades.

"They're comfortable and made to last," Campos said. 

Crews also installed a new reference desk on the second floor, while the book store was relocated from the second floor to the first floor.

With the extra space on the first floor, the library now has all of its youth services and other organizations downstairs.

"We did much more care of extra space then it was here before," Fisher said.