Van Buren library ready to open — finally!

The Van Buren Public Library closed its doors Wednesday night, so workers could start packing up books for the move to a new home, according to this report from KFSM 5 News.

The library will begin moving books to the new building on E. Main St. on Monday.

The new building will more than triple the library’s space. Eva White, Crawford County Library Director, said the extra space allows for more programs and features. White said, “A meeting room, a children’s room, a teen area, we’ll have study rooms, the size of the library will be conducive to programming we can’t have here."

White said the library has new workers for the bigger space.

“We already have our staff on board and ready to go,” White said, “we hired new people the first of the year.”

White said the move should be complete in two or three weeks, the library will open at that time. A grand opening is slated for February 13th.

It’s been a long and complicated road to the library opening.

The $3.4 million, 19,000-square-foot library at 15th and Main was 85% complete when a fire erupted inside the building in September 2008. Months of legal wrangling followed after the general contractor shut its doors, and two insurance companies worked to sort out how much they owed the city.

In June, the Van Buren City Council agreed to a $233,000 settlement with Traveler’s Casualty and Surety Company. Construction resumed in July, with Fort Smith-based Crawford Construction finishing the job.

During an Oct. 18 meeting of the Van Buren City Council, aldermen approved a resolution to renew a 3.4 millage tax for the library through the end of 2011.