By Joanne Lee
Wayland Free Public Library improvements are almost complete. Work began late last year with the exterior site improvements. Interior repairs and improvements have been happening since then, and the library’s elevator modernization project is scheduled to start in June and continue through the fall. Funding for the Library’s repairs and improvements was approved at Town meeting in 2020.
Interior repairs and improvements are well underway! Public restrooms have undergone a makeover. One restroom has been enlarged, and accessibility improvements have been made to both restrooms that conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Youth Services department had been temporarily relocated to the main floor while work took place in the Children’s Room. The Children’s Room is scheduled to reopen on Saturday, April 5! The Children’s Room has brand new flooring and carpeting. In addition, there is a refurbished children’s activity space, which includes new comfortable seating and new lighting. The space has been reconfigured and includes a new service desk in a new location. The room has a new seating area with comfortable furniture for families to sit, relax and read together!
Exterior site improvements will include a new handicap-accessible walkway from the lower parking lot to a covered, automated entrance into the Children’s Room which will allow wheelchair access to the entire lower level of the library! In addition, new stairs and railings will be installed from the north side of the library to the entrance into the Children’s Room on the lower level. New exterior lighting will be added to provide better visibility, and new plant beds and native plantings will be added to the library lawn!
The interior and exterior site improvements are led by the architectural design team, Liro-Hill. The general contractor overseeing the interior project is Northern Contracting Corporation and the general contractor overseeing the exterior project is Vintage Properties, Inc.
