Staff Writer

Kori Norris has one word to describe the new teen area at McArthur Public Library: epic.

Norris, 13, and friend Shania Junkins huddled over a laptop in the teen room last week, giggling as they clicked through an album of photos on Facebook. As the teens went about their daily after-school routine of hanging out at the library, many community members got their first look at renovations that transformed the second floor of Biddeford’s library.

McArthur Public Library held an open house Dec. 2 to celebrate a $200,000 renovation project that created a quiet reading room, large open space, additional local history storage and a dedicated space for teens. The project included conversion of 2,1000 square feet of space that was unused since 1995 when the library ran short of funds to finish the room following an addition.

The door to the second floor previously opened to a narrow hallway lined with DVDs and bookshelves. Now, visitors step into an airy room with long tables, cushy chairs and large curved windows that overlook the lawn and Main Street. Curved wood and glass partitions with leaf imprints separate an office and meeting area from the main room.

The teen area is separated from the rest of the second floor by partitions that echo curves used in the new front room. The teen advisory group helped select comfortable chairs and supported the plan to install a counter for computer users, said Young Adult Librarian Brooke Faulkner.

“The counter is the hot space,” she said.

Faulkner said she has seen more teens frequent the library since the renovation was finished in November. The previous teen space was a couch tucked behind a few shelves of books. With more room to spread out and work or talk to friends, teens often stay at the library until 6 p.m., she said.

“(This room) is something they’ve deserved for a long time,” Faulkner said.

Junkins, 13, said she visits the library every day and likes that the teen space is less crowded.

“I love this place. I love the books, I love the movies, I love the people in it,” Junkins said.

Interim Library Director Sally Leahey said she enjoys sitting at the desk near the door to the second floor so she can watch patrons’ reactions as they see the room for the first time.

“People open the door and just say ‘wow,’” she said. “It’s a whole different feel.”

Leahey said it’s “wonderful” to have the Henrietta Carroll Reading Room, named for a former president of the library board. Abigail Carroll said her late grandmother was a voracious reader who went to Radcliffe, loved Victorian novels and gave books as gifts.

“She was very intellectually curious. It’s kind of befitting she has her name on the library,” Carroll said. “She really had an incredible thirst for knowledge and reading.”

Carroll said she was impressed by the “lovely and elegant” reading room. She said her grandmother had an appreciation for elegance and likely would have loved the space.

Former Library Director Bob Filgate, who led the library from 1974 to 2004, said he had dreamed about the space since the 1995 when it could not be completed.

“It exceeds my dream of how it was going to turn out,” he said. “I’m really pleased.”

Mayor Joanne Twomey said she was amazed at the size of the reading room and meeting space.

“It’s gorgeous,” she said. “It’s one of our prides on Main Street.”

The staff and many frequent visitors watched the library transform since renovations began in August.

Hilary Lariviere works at the circulation desk and has chatted with many people about the project.

“A lot of them are speechless. I have not heard anything bad about it,” she said. “I love it. It makes it a lot more welcoming.”

Colleen Haley-Read of Kennebunk sat in front of a large window during the open house and flipped through a newspaper as her son, Marcel, watched the street below. She said they visit the library at least once a week after her son gets out of St. James School. She said the renovation is beautiful and inviting.

“You can actually look out into the city,” Marcel Haley-Read said. “People might come more.”

Gary Dixon of Biddeford said he goes to the library every day to do online research, look for jobs and browse the stacks. Seeing a wall knocked out to open up the second floor “blew me away,” he said.

“When they opened this up in November, it was like my gosh, all this space has been here all along,” he said. “I think it’s the best thing about the city of Biddeford.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.