WINDHAM — The Windham Public Library is open again after renovations closed the building for several weeks.

At an April 12 open house to celebrate what Town Manager Tony Plante called the “renewed and refreshed library,” Library Director Jen Alvino welcomed people and referenced the many steps that it took to see the project to fruition. The library now has new meeting and study spaces, a revamped large meeting space, a teen area and what Alvino called a “more inviting” children’s room. Two circulation desks on the first and second floors have been consolidated into one area on the first floor.

“We started the process a couple of years ago, and it’s really exciting for us to welcome everybody back after so long of being closed, and under construction, and in different spaces,” Alvino said. “To see it all come together at the end – the staff is so pleased with the progress and the end result.”

Community members on hand at the open house seemed to share Alvino’s enthusiasm.

“This is my favorite library,” said 11-year-old Chase Kennedy, a fifth-grader at Manchester Elementary School. “Because there’s country music upstairs, and it has books.”

His mother, Ernesta Kennedy, said she felt the new space “flows better” and was a “needed and appreciated update.”

Alvino said the project wasn’t without difficulty, forcing library staff to move things around as different parts of the building underwent renovations.

She said the staff never stopped working, although the library was closed for the last three weeks of the project. The building was also closed to the public two other times for several days while items were moved.

Plante compared the process to “library tetris” and said he appreciated the community support the project received.

Alvino said the last few months have been “interesting and challenging – and fun.”

“I think it brought the staff together as a team, because we were able to work in a much smaller space,” she said. “But it really gave us a sense of the possibilities for the new space.”

“I am relieved, I am excited,” Alvino continued about the project coming to a close. “It started out as a very small idea of building a new desk, and it grew into planning the future of library services for the town. And that’s what you see today, we’re prepared for the future.”

“I think it will encourage more people to come in and see what a great resource the library is,” added substitute circulation staffer Stephanie Vary.

Amy Jorgensen and her 4-year-old son Bradford already use the library and are excited about the new additions.

Bradford said his favorite part of the library is the toys, but he doesn’t mind the literature either.

“They’re so cool,” he said about the books, before going to grab his favorite, a Star Wars story, off the shelf.

Jorgensen, who called the library’s new additions “wonderful,” said her son is not the only one excited about the revamped space: she is confident her three teenage daughters will access the teen area after school.

Plante said the total cost of the project was $405,000, with funding from a variety of sources, including town funds, charitable donations, and grants. The Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation and the Davis Family Foundation also provided some financial support to the project.

Plante had previously updated the Town Council on an unexpected setback in the project involving the library’s old carpet.

“There’s always something that pops up,” said contractor Mike DiMatteo, whose company did the renovation.”That was the little bump in the road on this job.”

Project superintendent Kirk Rogers explained the flooring issue, saying that the carpet adhesive was strong enough to delaminate the plywood subfloor when the carpet was removed.

Despite the setback, DiMatteo said the project “was a pleasure” to work on.

“I’ve seen it in various stages of demolition, deconstruction reconstruction, renovation, moving out, moving in,” Plante told the audience at the open house. “And seeing it now done, and seeing it with people in it, seeing all of you here, that’s what it’s all about.”

Bradford Jorgensen, 4, shows off his favorite book in the revamped children’s section at the Windham Public Library.

Amy and Bradford Jorgensen sit in the children’s section at the Windham Public Library.

Windham Public Library staff, from left, Stephanie Vary, Barbara Kelley, Laurel Parker, Sally Bannen, Daina Grazulis, Jen Alvino, and Jen Dupree celebrate the library’s renovation and re-opening.