A Letter from the Director on Moving Home:
Today, we closed the doors at 1500 Union Street for the last time. When we opened this temporary library more than a year ago, we knew it would be just that: temporary. But for this chapter of the WPL, it became our library.
We transformed a former clothing store into a working public library and kept services running throughout a major renovation. We welcomed thousands of visitors, circulated books and materials, offered programs for all ages, and found creative ways to serve our community in a space that was never designed to be a library. Through all of it, you kept coming. You brought your children, stopped in for books and conversation, attended programs, asked us for help, and made this temporary space feel like a real community library.
A project of this size takes an enormous number of people. I am grateful to the Library Building Committee for the countless hours devoted to this project, to the Select Board for its support, and to the Board of Library Trustees for its stewardship of the Library. I am also deeply grateful to the Westborough Public Library Foundation and the Friends of the Westborough Public Library, whose continued support and generosity have helped make so much possible.
Most of all, I want to thank our staff and our patrons. Our staff adapted, problem-solved, packed and unpacked, and kept showing up for Westborough every day. They made a temporary space into a real library, and I could not be prouder of them. To our patrons, thank you for coming with us. You embraced an unconventional temporary home and made it ours. You encouraged us, asked about the project, celebrated each milestone, and reminded us every day why this work matters. Seeing familiar faces walk through the doors at Union Street meant more to us than you probably realized.
Now, we get to go home. And home is going to look and feel different.
You will see familiar pieces of the building we all love, but nearly every space has been reconsidered and redesigned for the way our community uses its Library today. This has been a librarian-designed library, but it has been designed for you. From furniture and study spaces to technology and collections, choices large and small have been thoughtfully and meticulously made with our patrons in mind. I truly believe it is better than ever.
The improvements won't stop with the building. You will find better technology, improved systems and services, and more ways to use and enjoy your Library, with even more to come. Reopening isn't the finish line. In many ways, it's the beginning.
For the next several weeks, our staff will be hard at work bringing everything home and getting the Library ready for you. There is still a lot to accomplish, but this is the work we have been waiting to do.
It has been an extraordinary privilege to lead the Library through this chapter, and I am so proud to be your Library Director. I am proud of our staff, proud of what we have accomplished together, and incredibly grateful to serve a community that cares so deeply about its Library.
This chapter is finished. The next one begins in November at 55 West Main Street.
And in many ways, we are just getting started.
Kate Coraccio
Library Director
Westborough Public Library
Read the full letter at :
https://conta.cc/3V8jNm
