Bethlehem Area Public Library to get new, modern children's room

The Bethlehem Area Public Library will be getting a new, triple-sized children's room come fall.

The library last week learned it had received a $500,000 state grant it needed to commence the $1.3 million project.

The library has been working since 2008 to create a new, larger children's room at its main library as part of its Room to Grow project. The library's South Side Branch got an upgraded children's area in 2013 as part of the project.

The Room to Grow effort was started especially to upgrade the main children's room, which hasn't changed much since the library opened in 1967, Executive Director Josh Berk said.

"We have all kinds of programming that wasn't imagined when the building was built," he said. "There will be more room to play, more room to have technology and more reading space – just a more fun children's room."

The new children's room will take up most of the library's second floor, which is used for meeting space and formerly for storage. It will include child-size shelves, a program area for early literacy and school-age programming and be designed for emergent technology, said Liza Holzinger, the library's developer director and public relations manager.

"Libraries are very critical to children, especially of all ages," library board of trustees President Tom Nolan said. "The more libraries can offer at various age levels, and the opportunities they can get, the better. And you can't work out of a shoebox -- you need a good-sized facility."

In addition to the state grant, the project is funded by almost $800,000 in private donations. The largest donation -- of $300,000 -- comes from former library volunteer Frances Barnard, for whom the new children's room will be named.

Barnard was a very active volunteer at the library in the 1980s and 1990s; she died in August 2012 at age 88.

Her only child, A. David Barnard of Centreville, Virginia, is pleased that his mother's intention to improve services to children and families will be realized for years to come in the new space, Holzinger said. Barnard didn't return a call for comment Tuesday.

Construction on the Frances L. Barnard Children's Center is due to start in mid-April with an expected completion date of September, Holzinger said.

"It's been something that everyone has been planning and looking forward to such a long time now," Berk said. "It's a relief to know that we're going to be able to start construction this year."

The library has raised all but $35,000 toward the $1.29 million project, Holzinger said. Any contributions of $500 or more will be marked on a donor wall in the new children's room, Berk said.

The first phase of the Room to Grow project involved $1 million of physical upgrades at the main library, including installing a new roof and elevator. The South Side Branch upgrades totaled $500,000.

The also project includes a fourth phase -- renovating the main library's existing children's room into a new teen room -- but that work currently doesn't have a budget or timetable.

Lynn Olanoff can be reached at lolanoff@express-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @LynnOlanoff. Find Bethlehem news on Facebook.
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