The new Eureka Hills Library Branch will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 2, with more than double the space and items carried at the current branch.
The new building, 500 Workman Road, has more than 15,000 square feet. The current library, 156 Eureka Towne Center, is limited to 6,500 square feet.
The new building will house a total of 45,235 items, about 60 percent more than the Eureka Towne Center location.
Branch manager Anna Schurk said the Eureka Towne Center site, which is leased space that used to be a Blockbuster video store, will close May 28.
Schurk said grand-opening activities will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the library’s meeting room.
The old site did not have a meeting room.
Kristen Sorth, the director and chief executive officer of the St. Louis County Library, said the new building cost $6.5 million to build and furnish.
Sorth said the space in the new building allows for the location to have study rooms, a large quiet room, more public computers, a teen area and the meeting room.
The library also has a children’s area, sponsored by McBride & Son Homes for $100,000, according to a press release.
Schurk said the children’s space has bright colors and honeycomb carpeted reading nooks in the wall.
She said Eureka Elementary students toured the library earlier in May.
“It (the honeycomb reading nooks) was their favorite part of the whole library,” Schurk said.
Sorth said part of the children’s area was switched to “browsing bins,” instead of traditional shelves.
“They like to see the front of the box; they are at kid height,” she said.
Schurk said some of the browsing bins will have themes, such as superheroes or Pete the Cat.
The circulation desk is in the center of the new building.
“This is in the middle of a space so people can see it and we’re in the middle of the action,” Sorth said.
Schurk said she hopes the location of the circulation desk makes it feel more “approachable.”
Library patrons also will be able to sit outdoors on a back patio that overlooks a retention pond, Sorth said.
Schurk said she is excited to have three small quiet rooms.
“Patrons asked all the time, ‘Do we have study rooms?’ and we didn’t,” she said. “This is going to be really popular with our patrons.”
Sorth said the library will have vending machines for snacks and coffee next to the restrooms.
“That’s kind of a new amenity that hasn’t ever been available until we’ve redone branches,” she said.
Schurk said food and drinks eventually will be allowed in the library, but the items are not allowed now due to
COVID-19 restrictions.
The library will open Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Sundays.