$330K makeover coming to Lenoir library

When visitors to the Caldwell County Public Library Lenoir branch walk past the rows of bookshelves, they step over residual water stains embedded in the carpet, passing multicolored and outdated paint on the interior walls, cracking pavers out front, and deteriorating retaining walls leading up to the front door.

At its Aug. 24 meeting, the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners allocated $330,000 to address the library’s most pressing needs. The money will come from available State Capital and Infrastructure Funds.

The project will roll out in two phases, with phase one repairing the unstable pavers and cracking retaining walls that pose a safety risk at the front of the building.

That phase will cost about $130,000. According to Library Director Janet Fore, the building will not be closed for phase one, as there is another entrance around the side.

“When they do the carpet and the paint, we’re going to close temporarily,” Fore explained. Phase two will run closer to $200,000 and will include recarpeting the facility and repainting the walls.

There isn’t a definitive timeline in place yet for when work will start, but Fore is optimistic that it shouldn’t take long to get the ball rolling.

When a ceiling seam failed during a storm and poured water into the main rooms upstairs, it left stains and damage across the facility. During the leak, staff members rushed to save materials underneath the opening.

“In two hours, they moved over 15,000 books,” Fore told county commissioners on Monday evening. “They saved our collection, and they also saved the local history room.”

Most of the materials in the local history room are primary sources, meaning single copies of records and books that can only be found within the walls of the Lenoir library, according to the librarian.

“If we would have lost this,” Fore said during an interview Tuesday morning as she motioned to the history room, “that would have been devastating, because we couldn’t replace it.”

Since the roof was replaced only a few years ago, patching the damaged seams fell under warranty and didn’t cost the taxpayers any money. However, at the time, the library was closed for a few days, and many holds across the county were suspended because staff couldn’t pull the requested books.

Fore already has a phase three in mind: renovating the bathrooms, which trace back to the days before the building first housed the library in 1986. Also in phase three, she hopes, is the addition of a new community room, considering how full they get with homeschooled students and tutors.

As the commissioners voted unanimously to allocate the funds, the room full of library workers and volunteers erupted in applause.

“Pick some beautiful colors!” Board Chair Randy Church said as the room filled with chuckles and the sounds of library supporters shuffling out the door.