It was 21 years ago when Claudine Perrault first stepped through the doors of the Estes Valley Public Library as its director.
During her tenure, she’s overseen several renovation projects in the building that are now more than three decades old, including 2017 work on the children’s room, Makerspace, quiet room, study rooms, and computer access area.
She’s overseen rearranging collections on the main floor, initiated the expansion of services to include a Library of Things for both adults and children, and developed the Twig mini-branch at the Estes Park Community Center.
But the $3.9 million construction project that starts Monday, June 1, is by far the most ambitious to date.
Planning for the work was prompted by a community needs assessment completed in 2023.
“We learned a lot about how happy people are, and what they wished we did for them as well,” Perrault said. “We took that seriously.”
Among the concerns raised was that the location of the children’s room was so close to the parking lot and main entrance to the library that youngsters occasionally made their way out of the building on their own, she said.
Other areas of need included creating more community meeting spaces and study rooms, and adding an ADA-accessible restroom on the building’s main floor. The primary building was constructed in 1991, so ADA accessibility was not included as it was when the second floor of the building was added.
Before the workers are fully engulfed with their tasks, a ceremonial “wall breaking” will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, May 29, at the entrance to the library building. That’s when contractors from G.H. Phipps and architects from Studiotrope Design Collective will be on hand to kick off the renovation project.
Starting Monday, June 1, the heavy lifting on the 10-month project will begin when patrons will be able to access the most popular library offerings only in what is currently the Hondius Room for about three months.
“That’s where we’ll have new books, new DVDs, Lucky Day, Library of Things, Library of Things Junior — all the things where we see the most traction,” said Perrault. “We’re going to maintain access so you can look and feel, but if you’re just looking for things, like in maybe the general collection, we encourage looking online and browsing our catalog and placing the item on hold.”
“We’re going to have opportunities where the construction’s going to give us an opportunity to come in the evenings and get all the ‘holds’ for people. We will have some small collections available,” Perrault said.
Curbside pickup of materials will be available to those who place an order in advance. For those unable to visit the library in person, library staff recommend checking whether individuals qualify for the House Calls program, a free service in which volunteers bring materials to homes.
Popular programs such as Storytimes, normally held in the library, have been scheduled at alternate locations or online. Details about those program locations are shown on the library’s website calendar.
Work will be completed in stages, so when possible, different areas will be opened. Perrault stressed that construction delays can occur, but projections currently call for much of the building’s first floor to be open in September. That’s when new plumbing and water service installation will be finished, along with the construction of a new central staircase.
The last quarter of 2026 will be devoted to developing a newly located children’s room and teen space on the first floor. Work to move the non-fiction collection to the second floor is also anticipated to occur by the end of the year, as is the renovation of the Community Room, now known as the Hondius Room.
Initial plans call for the first quarter of 2027 to be spent on remaining flooring and the creation of a staff room on the second floor.
“I’ve been doing a lot of private presentations for groups that use the library frequently, and some of our biggest supporters here in the community, but we still have a couple more of those coming up,” said Community Relations Specialist Barbara Jo Limmiatis.
For example, “I’m presenting to Restorative Justice next week, and I’ll be at the town board meeting on June 9, so I have a few of those trickling out. I’m still happy to take reservations, so if anybody wants to hear the information, I will more than happily show up anywhere, anytime to make sure questions are answered about the renovation,” said Limmiatis.
Construction is being financed through library district savings, along with donations from the library foundation and grants.