Sebastopol Library building will close for renovations in January 2026
The library building will be closed from January 5 to January 25, but there will be plenty of opportunities to order books, pick them up and drop them off during that time
The Sebastopol Library has announced that it will be closing for renovations for three weeks this coming January—from January 5 to January 25.
The only public areas being renovated are the teen section and the lobby. The teen section will get new carpeting, new chairs and a banquette for two computers.
“We’re also going to do a little bit of work in the lobby, making it a little fresher space,” said Sebastopol Branch Manager Deb Hoadley. “Nothing structural. It will be mostly putting up a community bulletin board, which is something this library desperately needs.”
The real action will be behind the scenes. Because of its high circulation volume, the Sebastopol Library is getting an automatic materials handling (AMH) system. It will be the third AMH in the Sonoma County Library system. The first and largest is at the Sonoma County Library headquarters, the next was installed in Healdsburg, and now it’s Sebastopol’s turn.
The AMH will be installed in the book drop room, which was already expanded in the spring to make room for the new system.
“So right now, all of the books that come into the library are getting processed by hand—that’s a lot of wear and tear on bodies—you know, picking them up, scanning them all,” Hoadley said. “And this way, both inside the library and outside the library, patrons will put their materials on a conveyor belt, and it will go into the right bin, and so the staff won’t have to touch five of the six bins of materials.” That sixth bin will catch the books that are returned via the manual book drop, which the library is keeping as a backup in case of mechanical failure or power outage.
“But for the most part, the almost 3,000 things that come into the building every week will be handled by a machine,” Hoadley said.
See this video of the AMH machine in Healdsburg:
Or this video of books at another library going to different bins.
“And the beauty of this is that patrons also can get a receipt. So right now, people don’t get receipts for their books coming back [through the manual book drop],” she said.
The addition of the AMH will require some re-configuration of the front entrance area of the library, some of which has already been installed. You may have noticed that both entrances have new automatic sliding glass doors, rather than doors that push open. The awning will also be extended, and the Biblo box will be turned sideways.
“They’re going to be cutting holes in the brick wall exterior so that they can make the window for the AMH,” Hoadley said.
The other area getting a major refresh is the staff office, which is getting new carpeting and an additional desk to accommodate the library’s new children’s librarian, Jane Kennedy. The reconfiguration will also provide a separate section for the Friends of the Sebastopol Library to work in and store their books for their annual book sales.
How will you get your books while the building is closed?
While the library building is closed, you’ll still be able to check out and return books.
“The BiblioBus will be here, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturdays between 1 pm and 5 pm,” Hoadly said. “So people can come to the BiblioBus, browse the BiblioBus, check books out, and of course, they’ll be able to return their books.”
Library patrons can also order books online and pick them up at the BiblioBus.
“We will have staff in the building, because we want them to still be working, so when patrons come, and we know that they’re here, we’ll have runners bringing books out—kind of like the curbside delivery during COVID. So we’ll keep the holds here, and then if you know that your hold came in, you could come in Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 1 pm to 5 pm, and we’ll bring the books out to the Bibliobus to be checked out. So we’ll still be able to do that. You can still browse. There’ll be a public computer on the BiblioBus.” Hoadley said. “We’re encouraging people to come, especially if they haven’t seen it.”
Thanks to financial support from the Friends of the Sebastopol Library, all library programs and classes will continue during the month of January, but they’ll be held at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, just down the block.
These renovations were originally scheduled to take place during two separate closures, but Hoadly said she’s glad these various projects were combined.
“I’m really happy with the way that the project has evolved for this three-week closure,” she said. “That way, we can get everything done all at once, boom.”
New Children's Librarian?!? Where is Miss Adriel going? She's amazing!
Miss Kennedy looks very nice, as well. However, I hope Adriel is not leaving. She is a whiz at remembering all the kid's names and making sure they are all included. We would be gone for months, come back, and she would still remember the kid's names. Plus, she cuts out the cutest felt items for storytime. Most importantly, she helped during Covid by having storytime outside in the park. It was wonderful being able to take the kids to an event and still feel safe. She's the best!
Wait. Am I reading that correctly? Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 1 pm to 5 pm - that's the only time you can pick up books on hold? That doesn't seem like a very big window especially if you work during the daytime. I wonder why there isn't at least one evening and/or one morning window available? And aren't there enough employees that one or two people could simply be assigned to book retrieval during regular hours while the remodeling is happening? As I recall, that was the program during the covid closure.
Thanks for writing about these plans for the library, Laura. It's important for the community to learn about this well in advance.