Photo by Becky Polaski New wooden end panels were recently installed on all of the bookshelves at the St. Marys Public Library.

By Becky Polaski

Staff Writer

Patrons at St. Marys Public Library should by now have noticed that upgrades were made to the appearance of the inside of the library in the form of new wooden end panels for the bookshelves. 

St. Marys Public Library Director Scarlette Corbin said many of the individuals associated with the library have felt for some time that its appearance needed an update.

“A lot of people look at those and say ‘wow you’re spending money on those when you’re in the middle of a budget crisis’ but to be honest and to clarify it, we received some monies from an estate,” Corbin said. “When you have monies from an estate you can’t just spend them on operating expenditures. The way we’re set up through the State with our funding is anything we spend we are required to spend the next year. So I can’t just spend $30,000 more on books than I did the previous year and not maintain that.”

Corbin also explained that when someone makes a donation from an estate the library likes to purchase something that will last for a considerable amount of time and can also bear the person’s name to acknowledge their contribution.

The end panels were purchased through the estate of Suzette Babin.

“When she passed on she gave a portion of her estate to the Library and these were custom made by Reed’s Custom Woodworking for each shelf unit,” Corbin said. “They came in and measured them and made each one custom for each shelf end.”

A plaque will be made and placed on one of the end panels near the doorway to honor Mrs. Babin.

“We did not spend all the money yet,” Corbin said. “We still had some of it left. It was an upgrade we felt would not require the Library to close and eliminate service. It was pretty easy for us to have them installed. There would be no disruption and it would do a lot to make it look a lot better.”

The previous end panels were made of metal and Corbin noted they are still in place behind the new wooden panels.

Along with the upgrade to the end panels, the building’s smoke alarm system was also updated this year.

“We had that put in because we didn’t have any kind of alarm system and it became obvious to us that we would need one,” Corbin said. “We called the Fire Department and asked them what they would suggest for us and they suggested a system similar to the one that we had installed. It is done through a centralized keypad and provides more security for our patrons while they are in the building if something should happen.”

Last year a drainage project was completed in the back of the Library.

“I think we’re pretty much done for a little bit with big projects,” Corbin said. “The year before that we had our tile all replaced. Every year we’ve had something big.”

According to Corbin, no other major projects are planned for the near future at the Library.