Patrons are invited to join the Naples Library Director, staff, and trustees for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday followed by a tour of the new library facilities, and open house with refreshments provided by the Friends of Naples Library.
This event celebrates the completion of the Naples Library Accessibility and Expansion Project initiated in September 2022. Thanks in part to substantial funding from State Aid for Library Construction, this $1.3 million project has transformed the library into a space with increased accessibility for all patrons and visitors, including much-needed upgrades in support of our vision, to “inform, inspire, educate and entertain our community, in an easily accessed, resource-rich environment”
New features include:
• a 1,053 square foot addition
• a new elevator that provides equitable library services to patrons with short and long-term disabilities and low mobility and those using wheelchairs and other assistive devices, including Seniors and Older Adults who are active library users but in the past may have found the stairs between levels difficult to navigate.
• new ADA parking at the lower level entrance on Harwood Lane
• new entry lobby and vestibule to support secondary patron access at Harwood Lane.
• a new curb and small entry garden constructed along with the Harwood Lane entry
• a designated teen room was added in the new part of the first level, offering teens a way to find community beyond school
• updated meeting rooms to provide more opportunities for use by community organizations, by enabling scheduled public access.
• an updated climate control system for history archives in the lower level, preserving important documents and collections donated by Neapolitans that tell the stories of Naples history.
Visitors’ reactions to the new library facilities have been enthusiastic, reflected already in increased participation in library programming.
Naples Library is part of the OWWL Library System, a New York State chartered, cooperative public library system serving the forty-two public libraries in Ontario, Wyoming, Wayne and Livingston counties.
