The Sedona Public Library was closed from 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27 through 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8 when it reopened with its new name of “Community Library Sedona” for an estimated crowd of 900 to 1,100 people that came out to “Get Loud” for the library’s relaunch event.
Community Library Sedona — as the library is known as following its Nov. 13 filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission — hosted family friendly activities from 2 to 5 p.m. at the library as part of “Get Loud” event with a rock-climbing wall, mechanical bull visit by the Sedona Fire District and reggae music from Local Honey before heading to the nearby Sedona Beer Co. Basecamp for an afterparty from 5 to 7 p.m. with folk music by Rivers Run Wild.
“We are a community first organization,” Library Director Judy Poe said about the name change. “We want the community to have more fun, and we believe that a library is a good place for that to happen. We are the most democratic institution there is because everyone who walks through our door is equal, so we embrace everyone who comes in.”
In addition to the new signage, the library removed the circulation desk at the main entrance and consolidated all library services to one desk further back into the library.
“The lobby space needs to be a more active space,” said Stephen Oliver, principal architect at Austin, Texas-based architecture firm OPA Design Studio. “The circulation desk was a space hog. … So many more things can [now] happen in this main entry space. [Previously] it was a bit under-utilized, and part of that’s just because the nature of the library as a building has changed from what it was 30 years ago. You don’t need a massive circulation desk anymore.”
Community Library Sedona also installed new carpet and paint in the Si Birch Community Room, changed the location of the computer and the teen areas, added two small phone booth-sized rooms for private study and reconfigured the fireplace area with open layout and seating.
“The fireplace area is a beautiful space that numerous people yesterday told me they had never, they never knew we had,” Poe said. “It is a place that we will be able to reconfigure as needed for different community programs.”
The new name also reflects an expanded focus for the building on community events and is part of a multi-phase project, Poe said.
“Right now, the library is very much about stacks of books, and we want this to be about activities that people are taking part in, whether it is the reading of a book or bumping into a friend or learning how to take apart a car engine,” Oliver said, adding that Community Library Sedona is considering adding a maker space to the building.
“We called this Phase 0; we’re currently working on drawings for Phase 1,” Poe said.
Community Library Sedona is planning to construct a new foyer between the fireplace and the courtyard and new public meeting space in that area of the library, Poe said, along with other improvements may be made to the building.
“We will be able to close that area off so [it] will be able to be used after hours, when the library is closed,” Poe said. “People will be able to come in and out and use that room and have a restroom, and I won’t have to have the whole library open.”
Poe added that she doesn’t have a cost or timeline for that improvement.
“We’re doing construction drawings now, but we have to submit them to the city,” Poe said.
New library cards to reflect the name change are now available.
Poe confirmed the Community Library Sedona is launching a capital fundraising campaign soon for building improvements.
“This is a phased project; we have to raise the funds to do it,” Poe said. “Just like people raised the funds 30 years ago to build the library, we need to raise the funds to do this project. Because it’s phased, we don’t know what the final outcome will be. A lot can change in three to five years … So I don’t know where the final building will end up. If something comes up [and] if there are new ideas that come up over as we go, we will incorporate them into the plan.”
