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By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff WriterA smaller version of the Regency Park Branch Library will operate until the new building opens next year.
PORT RICHEY - There aren't many books left at the Regency Park Branch Library.
The shelves of adult fiction and nonfiction are empty. So are the twirling racks of mystery and romance novels. Soon the juvenile books will join the rest of the collection, piled neatly into brown boxes destined for storage.
At 5 p.m. Friday, the county's third-busiest library will close its doors for a year for a massive expansion project. By the time the dust clears in fall 2006, the library at 9701 Little Road will be nearly twice as big, with a computer lab, a teen reading room and a separate children's wing with a story room.
"It's going to be worth the wait," library director Linda Allen said. "It will be really wonderful."
But there will be a wait nonetheless. In the meantime, starting Sept. 26, a mini version of the library will open across the street at the Shoppes at Golden Acres. The mini library will have five public computers but only a fraction of the collection (about 7,000 of the library's 92,000 items).
People can still check out any item, but it could take two or three days to retrieve it from storage, Allen said.
The $2.4-million expansion is identical to the one planned for the Land O'Lakes Branch Library, which closed Aug. 1. A temporary location opened two weeks later at the Land O'Lakes Recreation Complex.
Both libraries will grow from 10,000 to 18,000 square feet. The number of computers at each branch will increase from six to 23, and extra shelf space will allow the collections to eventually grow by 30 percent.
When they reopen, both branches will have a more modern, comfy design inspired by the major bookstores: overstuffed armchairs instead of straight-back seats, warm colors splashed on the white walls. Patrons will even be allowed to bring covered beverages inside, and officials are looking into bringing soda machines and gourmet coffee vending machines to the libraries.
The expansion also involves bringing the buildings up to the latest codes. That means adding wind-resistant windows, fire suppression sprinkler systems and wider aisles and larger restrooms for patrons in wheelchairs.
The county will select a contractor next month, and Allen expects the work to start in November or December.
--Bridget Hall Grumet covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com