The leadership is happy to announce that the library is not a place of silence and study.

“It is a vital, important, fun place to be,” Executive Director Kelli Knapp said during a Thursday open house intended to show off the many changes. “This whole renovation was about the public.”

The main driver behind the renovation was the desire to create a teen space, she said. “I became executive director in 2017. I made it my top priority to make a teen space.”

The downstairs, formerly a dark place crowded with shelves full of books, is now that teen space.

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Warren Public Library Executive Director Kelli Knapp speaks during a Thursday open house celebrating the completion of a $1.7 million renovation project.

“We’re thrilled to have the teens coming in — their eyes pop when they see everything,” Knapp said. “We’ve got a lot going on.”

There are still shelves full of books — but they are books intended for young people and they are a small part of the whole.

“After-school has been wonderful,” Teen Services Specialist Amanda Bajdo said. “Teens are filing in non-stop.”

There has been a lot of interest in the whisper room — the recording studio — and reservations for the multi-purpose room, a teen meeting space, are being taken.

The teen space is open for gaming and that has been very popular, Bajdo said. “While they’re down here, they’re interested in the books, they’re doing crafts, they’re interested in the computers.”

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Alayna Reynolds checks out some of the offerings at the new Warren Public Library Teen Space during an open house celebrating the completion of a $1.7 million renovation at the library. Before and during photos contrast with the after of the Teen Space.

“I have someone interested in a chess club,” she said. “I have a couple teens interested in peer support groups.”

The maker space is located adjacent to the teen space, but it is not age-specific. In that area, people will be able to learn and practice skills from sewing to photography.

Knapp called on the public to find teachers for such programs. “We need your help… your abilities,” she said.

And, the library is open to new ideas. When researching what kinds of things to offer, particularly in the teen space, representatives went to operational teen spaces in Pittsburgh to see what was popular. Those will only serve for so long.

The teen space was a large part of the renovation, but certainly not the only part, and not the most expensive, Knapp said.

The renovation also brought air conditioning to the library. The building was originally built in 1916. Previous thoughts of adding A/C were too expensive and would have been too ugly, she said.

Americans with Disabilities Act changes resulted in improvements to restrooms, the elevator, and the entry and exit doors.

There are security gates at those doors.

“We had our network infrastructure replaced,” Knapp said. “We have free-standing private meeting areas.”

LED lighting was installed along with some new furniture.

The Friends of the Library Book Cellar has a new location on the first floor and a corresponding new name — Book Seller.

The Children’s Library gained some space.

An installed, semi-circular computer desk that had been in the children’s area for decades was being underutilized recently.

“I liked the idea of having that semi-circle taken down,” Children’s Librarian Susan Slater said.

There is much more open feel to the space, now. “It’s really nice,” Slater said. “People come in and out and they can see the kids playing. It brings a smile to their faces.”

The formal renovations began more than a year ago, but the work behind the work has been much longer.

“We’ve been working on this for six years,” Knapp said. “It has been a long process.”

She thanked her staff, the many donors who made it possible to afford the work, and the patrons, who were patient with the library through three years of a pandemic and a renovation.

“It’s been three kinda wild years here at the library,” she said.

Disruptions related to renovations were off-and-on throughout the past year. “You were all very patient with us,” she said. “It was a lot and it went on for a year.”

She listed numerous donors — foundations, businesses, and individuals — that gave at least $25,000 to the project. But she recognized every donation.

“Everyone who gave — we couldn’t have done it without you,” she said. “We didn’t have $1.7 million in our reserves to make this happen.”

The project initially carried a $1.3 million price tag. After the library raised that amount, the price had gone up. “Once we went out to bid, we needed $400,000 more,” Knapp said. “Our wonderful community stepped up.”