CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The temporary Clendenin library will open at the end of the month, according to Kanawha County Public Library Director Alan Englebert, a move that is on schedule.
The Kanawha County Commission led the effort to open the facility at the former Clendenin Middle School, a 3,000 square foot space, by the beginning of May. After the facility was open to staff, employees of the library system began moving in furniture and shelving units in hopes of having the facility ready by opening day on May 30.
“We’re moving right along to getting moved in,” Englebert said.
The previous Clendenin library was destroyed in the June 2016 flood.
Englebert said staff of the Elk Valley branch, a facility damaged by the flood, will be taking this Friday off to assist with moving books and other items into the new space in Clendenin.
“We’ve been pulling today collections of materials from all of the branches,” he said. “They aren’t in any particular order, they’re just things that we’ve pulled out. They’ll be going out and opening up those boxes and starting to get those materials onto the shelves. It probably is 7,000 or 8,000 books and other items, so it’s going to be a big sorting project.”
The library system also hired four people for the Clendenin facility.
Englebert also said the previous library will be appraised “pro bono” by David Thalheimer next week.
“We need an appraisal done of our old building before we decide what to do with it,” Englebert said.
A celebration for the library will be held June 2.