Library to move to temporary space in March

By Matthew Nash • December 20, 2023 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette photoS by Matthew Nash In March 2024, North Olympic Library System’s leaders anticipate their staff and a moving company relocating the contents of the Sequim Library to the former Brian’s Sporting Goods space. The library will close during the move and will have a temporary space open for about a year while the current library space is renovated and expanded.
Sequim Gazette photoS by Matthew Nash In March 2024, North Olympic Library System’s leaders anticipate their staff and a moving company relocating the contents of the Sequim Library to the former Brian’s Sporting Goods space. The library will close during the move and will have a temporary space open for about a year while the current library space is renovated and expanded.

Plans for the North Olympic Library System’s expansion and renovation of the Sequim Library project are piecing together.

The library system’s board of trustees unanimously approved two contracts in a special meeting on Dec. 12 via Zoom to renovate the former Brian’s Sporting Goods space at 609 W. Washington St., Suite 21, and for professional movers to relocate materials, shelving and equipment.

Library leaders anticipate going out for construction bids in mid-January 2024 and work starting as soon as March, in an expansion that adds about 3,800 square feet to the 6,200-square-foot library building at 630 N. Sequim Ave.

Hoch Construction of Port Angeles is scheduled to start renovating after the holidays, NOLS executive director Noah Glaude said, to make a restroom Americans with Disabilities (ADA) accessible, add networking systems and replace doors.

“It should be pretty straight-forward,” Glaude said.

Hoch’s proposal estimates the work to be less than $30,000 and will be paid through the NOLS Sequim Capital Project account.

NOLS contracted with Hoch in 2019 to build partition walls and in 2013 to build an annex both at the Port Angeles Library, and in 2013-14 for the Forks Library renovation, according to NOLS documents.

Glaude said library staff will determine later what they’ll need to do with the old shelving and if repair to the rented floor space is needed when they move back to the newly renovated building. The new library space will feature new shelving.

Trustees approved a two-year lease in July for the Brian’s Sporting Goods space for about $151,000 from Aug. 1, 2023, to July 21, 2025, to accommodate construction delays.

Moving details

According to NOLS documents, relocation of the Sequim Library is scheduled for the week of March 11 and will complete the week of March 25 with the temporary space open April 1.

Trustees agreed to the contract with Olympic Moving & Storage to relocate about 52,500 books, equipment, shelving and furniture through the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services for an estimated cost of a little less than $39,000.

Glaude said moving cannot start sooner because Olympic Moving has another contract to fulfill beforehand.

He added that they went with a professional service because it seemed to be the most efficient method while staff continue library operations.

Glaude said they hope to reduce some of the moving costs with staff packing/loading some of the items themselves. Movers will deconstruct the shelving, relocate the shelves and reconstruct them, he said.

Book drop-off bins will be moved underneath the covered area of the temporary space, Glaude said, and they might maintain more drop boxes during the transition.

During the closure, patrons can still use other libraries, and the Bookmobile is anticipated to make additional stops during the closure, Glaude said.

Library leaders said they originally thought the library would be moving in late December or early January, but going out to bid was delayed because accommodations needed to meet required conditions for construction by the City of Sequim’s hearing examiner.

Now, library staff estimate the new library space finishing around March 2025.

Community members will receive a mailer about the closure/opening, Glaude said.

Total cost of the library project is $9,319,530, not including the moving and temporary space renovation, according to NOLS documents. As of October, about $5.5 million has been raised for the project.

In an effort to minimize debt, NOLS will tentatively take on general obligation bonds, while continuing to seek grants and its foundation will fundraise, staff said.

Naming rights

Trustees also approved naming rights on Dec. 12 for three spaces/efforts at the new library space.

An $80,000 grant from the Benjamin N. Phillips Memorial Fund will help pay for the building’s LEED Silver Certification; $211,967 from the trust of Dorothy Deland was donated in her name and she’ll be recognized at the Outdoor Play Area, and $150,000 from the Friends of the Sequim Library will be recognized by naming the children’s reading area after the group.

Deland was a library user, Glaude said, and a kindergarten teacher for 30-plus years and they’ll put a picture of her on a plaque.

Library staff continue to get donations, Glaude said, and they’re in discussions with other entities/people about naming rights.

More information available at nols.org/Sequim or by contacting Glaude at director@nols.org or 360-417-8500, x7717.