Library eyeing early March opening of new Benton location

With work winding down to finishing touches, the Marshall County Library is projecting an opening date in early March for its new Benton location on Birch Street.

Kristi Tucker, Director of Marshall County Public Library Services, said the opening could come as soon as the first week of March, if delivery of furnishings and logistics of the move from the current location on Main Street come together in the upcoming weeks.

“Once the building has been turned over to us, the shelving company will begin installation as well as moving and installing some of the existing shelves from the Poplar Street building.” said Tucker. “The library staff will be packing and moving non-collection material during this phase. It’s a time-consuming process, but we are looking forward to having more room on our shelves for the material.”

Tucker said she has been advised by Pinnacle Inc., the primary contractor for the job, that keys to the building will be turned over to her around the beginning of February. Workers are currently inside finishing many details including painting, flooring and electrical work and just last week were outside the new 30,000-square feet facility doing preliminary landscaping.

During the move, the Benton location of the library will be closed for a now undetermined period of time while library holdings are moved and shelved in the new location. Tucker said Calvert City and Hardin locations will remain open, giving library patrons availability to the full range of services offered.

In addition, the outside book drop at the current Benton location will remain available for the return of loaned items from any library location during the move. The Bookmobile program will run its regular schedule as long as possible until the move of that specific collection takes place.

Tucker said the library staff will work diligently to make the closing period as brief as possible.

“We plan to work as swiftly as possible to get the library moved. We realize that many people in the community rely on the services provided by the library.” said Tucker.

With total space nearly doubling that of the current library, the new facility will offer a larger meeting space, study rooms, a Makerspace equipped with tools to enable patrons to design, prototype and create works that would otherwise be impossible without the resources.

The new branch will also house a research room in which genealogy materials and Kentucky collection material will be kept. A new computer lab with the ability to partition rooms will also be available.

The library is planning a week-long grand opening celebration April 6 through 10, with special programs, library tours and other events.