Maine State Library is Moving To A Temporary Location

The Maine State Library is moving in early 2021 to its temporary home at 242 State Street in Augusta. According to centralmaine.com, the new space should be open in January of 2021. It is just past the statehouse complex as you head toward Hallowell on State Street. SO close you can see the capital from the parking lot of the new building. IF you are old, you remember this at the DMV building from back in the day!

The Maine State Library is still open for curbside pick and other wonderful library services and you can find out more about all of that right here. The Maine State Museum is also closed to the public at this time because this is a big project that affects the whole building.

Here is what is happening. The building has some old asbestos that was removed and some mechanical upgrades like electrical, heating, and cooling. Some tests found asbestos in the building, but it was not airborne, so there was little risk to employees or the public. But it still needed to be addressed. That was handled, and now it is time to do the mechanical upgrades. 

The new temporary building is big but still not as big as the library, so part of the collection will be moved to storage in Winthrop, and part will be in a space in Hallowell. But the most popular collections, microfilm, and public computers, will be available at the State Street location. 

Many libraries have moved out of their spaces for upgrades, additions, and repairs, and it always has impressed me how well things seem to work. At least, that is how it looks to me as a member of the general public. I am sure it creates a lot of extra work from time to time for the staff. 

So if you are a fan of the Maine State Library, like I am, be aware of the changes and upgrades. Renovation and improvements are a good thing but a pain to get ready for and live through. Thank you to all the staff at the Maine State Library in advance for all your hard work.