Library to get new event room
Published 6:01 pm Saturday, December 20, 2014
Visitors to the Austin Public Library use the public access computers. The computers were moved from the computer lab to the main part of the library.
The Austin Public Library is about to get a makeover.
In a few months, the computer lab on the building’s east side will be transformed into more space for meetings, classes and other gatherings while the computers are put out on the main floor.
“We’re going to reconfigure that space so that we can do classes and events in that room,” Executive Director Ann Hokanson said. “Over the past couple years, the library has really ramped up the community classes it offers, both to adults and to kids. So that’ll give us more opportunites to prove that lifelong learning experience.”
The $37,000 project is part of the city’s scheduled projects this year under a five-year, $127 million capital improvement plan.
Some computers remain to be moved in the Austin Public Library’s computer lab. This space will be used for meeting space. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Beginning in January, the library will take out the 16 computers in its lab and replace all of its public computers with new ones. Those computers, 12 for adults and six for children, will be placed around the library’s open floor.
Though the library will shrink its desktops in use from 28 to 18, Hokanson said the library’s rentable laptops and tablets will ensure people will still have the same amount of access to technology.
In addition, Hokanson said the redesign will also provide more space for people who bring in their own computers and devices to use at the library.
Once the computers are moved, city staff will remove the built-in furniture in the old computer lab and reconfigure the room into an event area as well as a place for equipment storage and supplies.
Hokanson said the city’s parks and recreation employees are saving the library thousands of dollars on the project by reconfiguring the built-in furniture to be used throughout the library.
Library staff may put in a glass wall on the computer lab’s western side, where the door is, so people can see what’s happening in the new event area. However, the city will wait several months to renovate the room until city staff know what’s going to happen with the former Austin Utilities downtown plant property, which is rumored to be a top site for Vision 2020’s Community Recreation Center project.