Improvements to Commerce library now complete

An article by Angela Niemi    No Comments

On Sunday, Feb. 12, the residents of Commerce Township were treated to an open house at the newly renovated Commerce Township Community Library.

“It looks absolutely great,” said Library Director Connie Jo Ozinga. “The new teen area is wonderful, and the meeting room is wonderful. The bar is no longer there. The Friends of the Library storage area looks great. I’m just really pleased.”

The library is currently housed in the old El Dorado Golf Course clubhouse and banquet facility off Martin Parkway near Pontiac Trail. The building is 20,000 square feet, but until recently only 12,000 square feet were in use.

But after the internal rehabilitation, the library essentially gained an extra 8,000 square feet to utilize.

The clubhouse’s old pro shop and bar have now been renovated into a larger teen services area and community meeting room that will be able to accommodate 100 people and will have tables and chairs for 60 people.

Other plans for the additional space included an accessible information technology training area for staff and the public, additional office space, two unisex restrooms, and a new group study room, among other improvements.

The majority of the new floor space was used for teen services, according to Ozinga.

The area accommodates all the teen shelves and computers and provides additional seating and tables for studying — a vast improvement over the “tiny corner” previously set aside for young adults.

Since being open, the teen area has been “very well-used,” Ozinga said.

Meanwhile, the larger meeting room was shown off at the open house. The room will be used for library programs and other community events, such as Walled Lake Consolidated Schools events like Coffee with the Superintendent.

The internal renovation costs, including furniture and painting, were below $300,000 and funded by the library’s improvement revolving fund.