Southampton Free Library to Close for Renovations

Check your due date slip; the Southampton Free Library is closing for a two-week renovation from floor to stacks.

“It’s long overdue,” said Kim Ingram, the library’s director. “I think it’s been about 20 years since the last renovation.”

The walls will get a fresh coat of paint called “Inviting Ivory,” and the old carpeting will be replaced by carpet tiles—gray-blue with a touch of gold. The job for Carpet removal and replacement was awarded to Hood Floors, Inc. at a cost of $40,060; Tyler Corp. got the paint job for its bid of $6,449.

The entire project, to be completed from March 25 to April 6, will cost just under $100,000, Ingram said. Half that money came from a Keystone Grant, the rest came the library’s capital improvments fund it’s been squirreling away for years.

“It’s a much needed facelift,” Ingram said. “The design will be more sensible and more user friendly.”

Beyond the décor change, the most obvious difference will be a merging of the reference desk with the circulation desk. Now, the reference area is an island a few feet away from circulation. After the renovation, a new, longer desk will encompass both service areas, said Jeannie Kim, head of reference.

The fiction section and the young adult books will also be moved to make the layout more logical.

Any items checked out from the library will have due dates reflecting the closure dates. Kim said that if members want to return items early, during the renovation, they would have to do so at another Bucks County library, so she suggests just holding on to them until the library is finished.

Also, during the renovation the basement meeting rooms will be open, and the library’s regular events scheduled for those rooms will continue. 

The entire library will reopen April 8.

“We are really excited for the renovation,” Ingram said, “ and we hope the community will be equally excited.”