After years of planning and a year and a half of construction, the new Scotia-Glenville Middle School library was formally shown off to the community tonight during a ribbon cutting and PTA-sponsored reception.
Board of Education President Pamela Carbone cut the ribbon to mark the beginning of the program. The Middle School string students, under the direction of Cheryl Ferraro, performed.
The new library features skylights, a glassed entrance, plenty of dedicated and usable space and other amenities. Library Deborah Collins and her staff has been working to make the space a user-friendly destination for middle school students. The space has been open for students since the last week of February.
The previous library, an original vestige of the early 1970s 'open space' style, was a large space with no permanent walls; bookcases were used as makeshift walls but the space was very loud during the passing of class between the classrooms on the second floor. The May 1999 Scotia-Glenville building project originally included improvements to the middle school library, but that was cut after the overall district project came in with higher-than-expected construction costs.
The current project was approved by the community in May 2009. The cost was pegged at $2.5754 million, which also include reworking the second floor hallways and replacing several spaces in addition to the library.
Below are a few pictures from the opening reception. Click on each to enlarge the photo.
