It’s once again easier for visitors to the Jacksonville Library to get into the building. The library’s west entrance has reopened for use after a lengthy project to update the patio and entrance.
Director of the Jacksonville Library, Jake Magnuson says the entrance has been open and available for use by the public for about two weeks now. He says the work had been needed for some time to mitigate continuing issues caused by water and ice.
“The water would be puddled and the ice melt was kind of eroding away at the bricks and the railings and things like that. With the new system, there weren’t any puddles with the rain the other day that I saw so things seem to be draining so far so good. With the built-in ice melting system hopefully, that will alleviate some of those other issues we’ve had down there as well.”
Magnuson says many people had trouble negotiating the old Carnegie steps at the Main entrance facing College Avenue, so the library staff is very happy to have the west entrance open again.
He says inside the library, activities have not slowed down like themed movie nights on Wednesday. “We’re continuing with the movies we’ve been showing on Wednesday nights. We just finished up last night with Young Frankenstein, sort of horror films for October. Next, we are going to do some noir films for November. I’m not sure what Andy has planned for December just yet. It may be some holiday but I’m not sure.”
The Music Under the Dome series continues next month with a choral group from Illinois College performing on Sunday, November 6th.
Magnuson says there are currently no plans to adjust the library’s hours of operation during the holidays. To stay informed about upcoming events at the library log on to jaxpl.org.
The Jacksonville Public Library is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, Friday from 9:00 to 6:00 and Saturday from 9:00 to 5:00. The Jacksonville Public Library is closed on Sundays.