KCPL's Renovations at the Covington Library

Last week I was invited to a special event for bloggers at the Kenton County Public Library's Covington Branch.  We got a sneak peek at all of the changes that have been happening at the library since they started remodeling and expanding two years ago.  After all the hard work, the library is set to have their big RENOVATION CELEBRATION this weekend, on Saturday, October 26th.  Check out the KCPL website for all the details about the celebration.

Here are some pictures of my favorite parts of the "NEW" and improved library:

A Children's Garden...genius!  I cannot wait for warmer temperatures to attend storytime in this gorgeous little courtyard.  I could go on and on about how much I love the Children's Department, but I've already covered my love of this part of the library in a Post about the Children's Department you can read here.

The Genealogy Department was pretty impressive.  If you are doing research about anything to do with your family's history or local history, you should spend some time in this department.  They don't just focus on Kenton County, but on the whole region.  They have some amazing treasures in their archives that they have been given by businesses and individuals in our community, such as the Kentucky Post, St. Elizabeth and Baker Hunt.  They are working hard to digitize everything they are given so that it is accessible to everyone.  The Genealogy Department is a treasure trove of local artifacts, one unique example from their archives is this glass plate negative:

Once everything is digitized it goes into the archives:

The Teen Room:  Here's another neat thing about the Covington Library, young adults have their own room with computers and books, and it is separate from the rest of the library so they have their own space to hang out.

The old Covington Library was a bit dim (that's putting it mildly)...I LOVE the brightness of the new digs...

This is behind the scenes at the Drive-Thru window.  Which is one of my favorite features that came about during the renovations.  I am so happy to be able to put our books and movies on hold and just drive by and grab them.  So convenient when you don't want to drag all of the kids in the library just to pick up a book.  ** Thanks to Jess for the special tour of the circulation department, so cool!!

 And this wasn't part of the blogger tour, but I was excited to see my friend Ms. Jeanne in the Read Racer outside of the library after the tour.  Ms. Jeanne and I taught together years ago, and now she's one of the smiling faces that brings books to children all over the county.  Standing with her is Dave Schroeder, Executive Director of the Library, and one of our tour guides on Friday.  He was beaming with pride as he showed us around, and what sticks with me most about this renovation is this quote:

                “The Covington Branch Library belongs to the people of Kenton County,” stated Kenton County Public Library executive director Dave Schroeder. “As such we needed to be responsive to their needs.”  

You can certainly tell that they listened to the patrons when they spoke up about what they wanted from their library, and you can tell they had our best interests in mind.  The newly remodeled library is a masterpiece, and I'm proud to be a patron there. 

Thank you to Dave Schroeder, Julia Allegrini, Elaine Kuhn, Robin Klaene, Gina Holt and Patti Richards for hosting this blogger tour and giving us a sneak peak of the renovations.