Free Library set to return home

West Philadelphia's book lovers will soon have a place to curl up and enjoy a good novel once again. After sitting idle for more than four years, the Walnut Street West Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library will undergo renovations at its former site on 40th and Walnut streets, City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell announced at a public meeting yesterday. The library was closed for renovations in 1996, and was found structurally unsound by the electricians who inspected it. The cost for repairs were so abundant that library's tight budget could not feasibly support them. Community persistence has caused the more than 80-year-old building to once again be scheduled for renovations. Construction is set to begin in July 2002, with hopes that the terra cotta structure will house thousands of books soon after. "[The announcement] gives the community a sense that it has been made whole, that it has been restored," Spruce Hill Community Association President Barry Grossbach said. Free Library of Philadelphia Director Elliot Shelkrot said that city and library officials planned to refurbish the building, while maintaining the existing exterior, and to do so in such a way that will maximize the amount of usable floor space, set at about 10,000 square feet. "We will have a library that will look from the outside almost identical to the library you have on that site," Shelkrot said. City Council approved the $300,000 necessary to proceed with the architectural and engineering plans. Rick Tustin, the acting director of the city's capital program office, said he expects to have contractors bid on a working design for the site in eight to 10 months. The city budget allocated the remaining $3 million necessary to complete the project for Fiscal Year 2003. Once construction begins two summers from now, the project will take at least 12 months to complete. Grossbach said that the library will help to maintain a sense of history in the community. "The fact that we can have a marriage of institutions -- a free public library, the community, and the political process -- and that we can really accomplish something that can benefit everyone is a significant chapter," Grossbach said."No one is a loser here." The library, which is adjacent to Penn's campus, has maintained close relations with the University. "Penn has been squarely behind the community as far as [the library] is concerned," University Director of Community Relations Glenn Bryan said. One month after library officials announced that the 3948 Walnut Street site would close, the University leased a tiny location at 3927 Walnut Street to the library for a nominal yearly fee of $1. The opening of the new library will also serve as a volunteer ground for Penn students and faculty members, according to Bryan. After years of persistence and a plethora of calls to City Hall, community members have finally gotten their wishes, and most seemed surprised. "I am still in shock," said Evelyn Delany, the librarian at the temporary 3927 Walnut street site. The new permanent location will provide the library with more floor space, a wider diversity of programming, more shelving for books and more technological resources.