GRAY – The six-month, $1.5 million renovation of the Gray Public Library is approaching completion, with library employees set to hold a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 11.

There is still work to be done. Library employees, contractors and volunteers are building railings, assembling shelves and moving thousands of books in an effort to prepare for the ribbon cutting next week, when the library will re-open following a 10-day closure. When asked when the construction was scheduled to finish, Ray Clark, chairman of the library’s board of trustees, said, “Last week.”

“It really won’t finish until this spring and summer when we can do the planting,” Clark said. “But it’s pretty close to being finished now.”

The renovation has entailed a number of comprehensive changes, Clark said, including a 3,000-square-foot expansion, the removal of a rooftop cupola, four new bathrooms, and a new entrance. The walls have been repainted, new tile carpeting has been installed, and there are new circulation and interlibrary loan loading areas.

Joshua Tiffany, who was hired as the library’s director last summer, said he is glad to finish the project.

“I’m excited for people to see this brand new, beautiful space,” Tiffany said. “I’m excited to be done with the project. We’ve been working on the construction for the last six months.”

The renovations were designed by Portland-based Richard Reed & Co., with Freeport-based Zachau Construction doing the work.

“The purpose of the renovation was two-fold,” Clark said. “It was not to get more room for books. That was never the intention. The intention was to bring the building up to speed – get in proper insulation and lighting and all that kind of stuff, and to provide meeting rooms. The town, like a lot of towns, suffers from a lack of places to meet.”

In the past, Clark said, the library has often been forced to either hold events for the public at other locations, such as Stimson Hall, or to remove books in order to make sufficient space. The two new meeting rooms are designed to fix that problem, Clark said.

The meeting rooms will be accessible, even at times when the library is closed, Clark added.

“This is going to be open all the time,” Clark said. “This can be closed off from the rest of the library. In the past, if we had a meeting, it had to end at 8 p.m. because the staff had to leave at 8 p.m. This will be available to the public pretty much any time, from 9 in the morning to 9 at night. It’s flexible.”

Clark said he expects that the library will host at least one meeting per month after the re-opening.

The library has three full-time employees and three part-time employees. The renovations, which include new workspace and a break room, will significantly increase the quality of their work experience, Clark said.

“There was literally no place for them to have lunch prior,” Clark said. “They would have to stand and eat their lunch. They had no place to go take a break.”

During construction, Tiffany said, the library has moved 20,000 books – or nearly half of its collection – in and out of storage. Tiffany said he is looking forward to seeing the final results of the six-month effort.

“I just think a lot of people put a lot of effort into this and it will be wonderful to see the fruits of that labor come through,” he said.

Library Director Joshua Tiffany, at right, and Tony George, whose wife, Kathy, is the children’s librarian at the library, assemble a freestanding rack for audio books for adults, with library trustee Ray Clark overseeing. The $1.5 million Gray Public Library construction project includes a basement extension with meeting rooms, bathrooms and a staff break room. Ray Clark, chairman of the Gray Public Library Board of Trustees, explains the latest construction efforts at the library’s new entrance.  With James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s World” echoing through the building, Library Director Joshua Tiffany takes a breather.