Page 16 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • May 16, 2012 Public library will reopen to public on May 19 by John Koster The Grand Opening of the Wyckoff Public Library will take place on Saturday, May 19 at 10 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by special activities for children, teens, and adults that will continue throughout the day. The library renovation and expansion cost approximately $4 million, including construction work and architect’s fees, and was accomplished with “green” materials used in the newly constructed addition and in the renovation of the adult area. Solar panels and other energy-saving devices were also installed. The Wyckoff Library Board said at the time of the ground-breaking for the construction that its goal was to “create an engaging environment that is relevant for how we learn, read, and work in the 21st century, making the library a destination for every Wyckoff resident.” At the time of the construction expansion, the library was 40 years old and the renovation work was the first major upgrade in nearly a half-century. The library board had systematically set aside funds from the regular library budget to cover the cost of the project so there would be no additional burden on the taxpayers. The board also postponed needed roofing and carpeting replacement and shelving projects so as not to disrupt library services while waiting for construction. “They managed to save their funds for eight or 10 years so that they covered the cost of the construction,” Wyckoff Township Committeeman Rudy Boonstra said of the library board. “It’s also coming in for completion essentially when they said it would. I have to hand it to them. There were no extended delays as there have been notoriously in some other towns.” Boonstra, who was mayor of Wyckoff at the time of the ground-breaking, also served on the library board for a number of years. During the last year before construction, in 2009, the library loaned a recordbreaking 260,452 items and handled 90,502 interlibrary loan requests from Wyckoff The Wyckoff Public Library’s Grand Opening Celebration will be held Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the library located at 200 Woodland Avenue. The Wyckoff Library Board of Trustees, Library Director Mary Witherell, and the library staff invite the community to view the library’s new 25,000-square-foot space. The day’s activities will feature games and crafts for children, special events, and giveaways. The day will begin with a 10 a.m. opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting. From 11 to 12:30, a light luncheon will be served in the Shotmeyer Room. Pianist Marrianne Sellers and mime Juggles (Steve Beigel) will provide entertainment. From 2:30 to 3:30, the Juggling Hoffmans will present a Be part of the next chapter show that combines comedy, music, magic, and juggling. From 11:30 to 1, the The Mad Hatters will be designing balloon sculptures in the Rizzo Children’s Library. The Juggling Hoffmans will perform from 1:30 to 2:30, and the Mad Hatters will be painting faces from 3:30 to 5. Visit the Adult Library from 2 to 2:30, where the Ackerman String/Woodwind Trio will be performing. The trio includes Achilles Georghiou on guitar, Patty Lazzara on flute, and James Settler on violin. Teens are invited to the Monroe Room from 3:30 to 5 for a coffeehouse and poetry slam. For more information, call (201) 8914866 or visit http://wyckofflibrary.org. residents and from patrons of other libraries in the Bergen County Cooperative Library System, which can lend books from other county libraries and from a number of academic libraries around New Jersey. This service is especially important to students, researchers, and other professionals. More than 67,000 questions were fielded by the Wyckoff Library reference team, and the Wyckoff Library greeted more than 200,000 patron visits during 2009. The renovated library includes a new Children’s Room that will accommodate 6,000 children’s books formerly shelved in the adult part of the library, a Young Adult area, and additional space for research, reading, and computer use. The number of computers available for public use has virtually doubled. The renovated library will also have more space for best-sellers, DVDs, and CDs. Wyckoff has long been noted for its expansive collection of feature films and documentaries not available at many other libraries. Some of the materials now stored in the attic and rotated periodically for circulation will now be more accessible to the public. The library will now be able to accommodate 80,000 volumes. The library now has three public meeting rooms, including a large new space on the lower level.