Related

Jackson Park branch will close today as asbestos removal starts, which will pave the way for an expansion plan that will increase the size of the library by 50 percent. The branch is being worked on first because of its proximity to Jackson Middle School.

Work on the Gainsboro branch will double the size of the current meeting room and add a new theater for puppet shows, something that is a tradition at the branch. Improvements to each library are expected to take about a year.

Roanoke Public Library System

• Branches: Seven, including the main location on Jefferson Street downtown
• Budget: $3 million a year
• Employees: 51
• User door count for 2003- 04: 328,228
• User door count for 2006- 07: 548,436
• Programs (story hours, guest speakers and others) in 2003- 04: 129
• Programs in 2006- 07: 727

Source: Roanoke Public Library records

In coming months, the traditional "quiet please" rule will be tough to enforce at Roanoke's Jackson Park and Gainsboro branches. But that's OK with Sheila Umberger, director of the Roanoke Public Library system.

Disruption, in this case, will be welcome because of the cause: renovations and expansions costing about $1 million apiece for the two branches. The work, which will start at Jackson Park today and at Gainsboro in two or three weeks, will include new rooms for meeting, tutoring and teen activities. Besides the added space, there will be larger collections of books and movies.

"We're improving our facilities with big goals. This represents a lot of dreams," Umberger said.

The Jackson Park branch will temporarily close starting today for removal of asbestos to be completed before the construction work starts. It's scheduled to reopen Feb. 1 and stay in service during the rest of the work. Gainsboro's branch doesn't have enough asbestos to warrant closing, Umberger said.

Improvements to each library are expected to take about a year.

Mike Ramsey, volunteer president of the Roanoke Public Library Foundation's board of trustees, said, "Ten years ago, if you talked to officials at the city or the library about a major expansion like this, you got a blank look."

Ramsey, a regional insurance officer at First Citizens Bank, praised the leadership of Umberger, a 26-year veteran of the city's library system who was named director in 2006.

City officials deserve credit, too, he said, for providing $5.9 million in funding from the sale of municipal bonds. That equates to nearly twice the library system's current annual operating budget.

The Jackson Park library changes will increase the size of the 5,000-square-foot library by nearly 50 percent. The branch was chosen to be first in line for renovations because of its proximity to Jackson Middle School. The new room for teens will include a window with special tinted glass that will face the campus, Umberger said.

The Gainsboro branch's improvements will double the size of the current meeting room and add a new puppet theater. "Gainsboro has a tradition of doing puppet shows that have drawn up to 90 children at a time. This seems like a new way to honor that," Umberger said.

She said the contractors have been cautioned about making noise at the wrong times. "We told them, 'You can't use sledgehammers during the puppet shows.'"

Of course the construction threatens to add to the library stereotype of dusty books. Umberger said, "We're going to try to avoid that by covering them up."