Library auction celebrates past and supports the future
Lindy Conley, left, Jim Gill, Paula Fawcett and Megan Smith along with other staff and volunteers have tirelessly been preparing for an upcoming auction that will benefit a renovation scheduled to be completed at the Dover Public Library this fall.
The Dover Public Library will host an auction on Saturday, Aug. 4. Doors will open at 8 a.m. for the convenience of guests interested in perusing the variety of items. The auction will begin at 10 a.m.
Throughout the day guests can enjoy activities for children including a bounce house, face-panting and balloon-tying along with food provided by Jaime’s Apple Treats, Three Lil Piggies BBQ and a lemonade stand.
“This is an iconic sale,” said Jim Gill, library director. “Typically libraries part ways with old furniture and shelving in other ways.”
While furniture, some of which is original to the library that began construction in 1954 and opened in 1955, will be available for purchase, other auction items worth mentioning include shelving, light fixtures, art, desks, chairs, computers, near-mint-condition maps, educational posters, and other vintage paper collectibles and ephemera.
“We made a lot of discoveries as we opened cabinets and desk drawers deciding what should stay and what should go,” Gill said. “Some of the stuff we found is really incredible.”
Gill expects regular patrons to attend the auction along with others who might be in the market for something truly unusual.
Gill said the pieces and parts that have made up the library for the last six decades have served the community well.
“If all our furniture was mid-century modern, we’d be pretty hip right now,” Gill said. “But we’ve got a lot of mismatched items we’ve picked up over the years, some of it for next to nothing and some even free. It’s going to be nice to have everything match for once.”
Beyond the aesthetic aspect of the library’s furniture and fixtures, the time to update for the sake of technology is necessary to keep up with the ever-changing role of the library in the community.
The auction makes up the final leg of the Time to Check Out Your Future Capital Campaign, which was initiated in 2016 in an effort to raise funds for a long-overdue renovation that will include a remodeled adult department with improved lighting and electric outlets, USB ports, and charging stations for computers and cell phones. Currently the library has only seven electrical outlets accessible to patrons in the adult department.
Gill said the intention is to create a warm, open space for patrons in an adult department that would offer modern amenities while still keeping the classic feel of a library and allowing the library’s natural light to be better utilized.
In addition the redesign will make better use of the lower level of the library, which until recently housed the stacks, processing room and office space as well as the local history and genealogy section and the Friends of the Library Book Cellar.
Other improvements will include a new teen department; updated restroom facilities to better serve families, especially those with young children; space for private tutoring and adult literacy assistance; larger aisles with mid-range shelving to make materials more accessible; and a designated technology area with more public computers and services.
The adult department will temporarily close Monday, July 23 with a scaled-down version to open Aug. 6 to accommodate patrons. The community room, technology room and children’s department will remain open throughout the expected two-month-long renovation.
“We are doing everything we can not to disrupt programming so scheduled events and meetings can continue even while we are under construction,” Gill said. “The role of the library has changed in the community. The public has always supported us. It’s a beautiful thing. We have received an outpouring of support from local foundations and corporations that have contributed to this project, but it has been a truly grassroots initiative. There are hundreds and hundreds of people responsible for making this project possible.”
It is the plan to have a grand reopening of the library in late September or early October.
Gill invites anyone to the library during regular business hours to get further details about items up for auction. Call 330-343-6123 and ask to speak to a manager about auction items or ways to contribute to the ongoing fundraising campaign.
The library is located at 525 Walnut St. in Dover.