The Old Town Library of Poudre River Public Library District, Fort Collins, CO, has completed an eight-month renovation and expansion project that has added 6000 square feet of new construction and redeployed another 3000 square feet to the 34,000 square foot structure. Along with an interior remodel, the $5 million project built down from the library’s second-floor overhangs for flexibility and room to grow. On the first floor, the library now has a new fiction section, a larger area for children’s programming and family computer seating, a multipurpose community room, a combined space for vending items and quick Internet visits, a “new media” area, and an automated materials handler. The second floor houses the dedicated teen space and the genealogy and magazine department. OZ Architecture and Heath Construction worked on the building, which includes numerous sustainable features, for example, locally sourced brick, the reuse of existing walls, and the installation of carpet and ceiling tiles composed of recycled content.
The renovated and renamed Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, opened in April after a $4.2 million, three-phase renovation. The 10,000 square foot facility features a 40-seat interactive Learning Lab, collaborative media stations, a coffee shop, and a multimedia production center. The project received a $2 million donation from Roland G. Parrish, a former Purdue student-athlete who is president, CEO, and owner of Parrish McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd., a 25-store chain in north Texas.
Midland County, TX, will welcome the new 33,000 square foot Centennial Library in November. Designed by professional services firm Dewberry, the new $4.6 million facility will be created not out of whole cloth but from a former Linens-N-Things store. The library will include interactive floors and walls and a media lab.
July 11 marked the groundbreaking for the new 6000 square foot Olmsted Falls Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH, to replace an existing facility. Designed by Van Dyke Architects, with construction managed by Regency Construction Services Inc., the $1.75 million library will feature a full-service drive-up window and additional gathering spaces for community activities. The project is expected to be completed in early 2013.
Lead the Change is a library leadership seminar that brings together library thought leaders to show participants how today's top libraries are leading change and transforming their communities. Attendees are lead through a series of exercises to help bridge 
key thoughts to individual leadership objectives to help them harness their ideas, their innovation and their ability to lead.
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