Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/110922
Sarasota News Leader February 22, 2013 Page 75 that the group has more space in the temporary facility for its used book sales. Kalajian commended the library staff, members of the Friends group and county employees. ���It was amazing to see, when those folks got together,��� she said, ���how much care they took��� in transforming the storefront into a library. As Commissioners Charles Hines and Patterson watched, Mason then cut the big blue ribbon at the doorway, prompting whoops, cheers and whistles. Inside, patrons took aim at computer terminals and the stacks. ���It���s wonderful,��� Erb told the News Leader with a big smile as people bustled around her. Conni Wheeler, a member of the Friends board of directors, took this reporter on a tour, pointing out that younger library patrons already are asking for beanbag chairs for the teen section, while children will find a much more expansive area than they had in the old facility. The seats at the computer terminals are mostly occupied. Surveying the whole public part of the facility, Staub added, ���This is big. We could have a ballroom dance here. We might!��� The foundation is a nonprofit organization established last year to raise private funds to supplement county support of the library system. At the back of the single meeting room, a line of changing rooms is the most notable sign the Back near the circulation desk, Ginger Dvorak, who has been a library volunteer since space once housed a clothing store. 2004, was checking out books for her daughThrough swinging doors on one side, in the ter. ���I think it���s great,��� she told the News Leadarea that used to stock the latest fashion arer. ���Lots of room. I like that.��� rivals before they went out on racks, library staff has carved out offices and room to mend Sarasota County Library Advisory Board membooks. ber William Kegel congratulated Mitchell near the front. ���It���s superior. It really is.��� ���I love the children���s area,��� said former Commissioner Shannon Staub, now president of ���We are prepared to be a good mall neighbor,��� the Library Foundation for Sarasota County. Mitchell told the News Leader. %