CRETE - At long last, Crete has its new library.

After ground broke in August 2018, the new 15,000 square-foot facility opened its doors to the general public for the first time on Thursday morning at 9:30.

The new library, located at 1515 Forest Ave., is nearly double the size of the old library on 13th Street, which had been around since 1913. In all, the new library cost $7.5 million. Roughly $4.2 million of that is being funded through a voter approved bond issue from 2016. Another $2 million comes from grants, $500,000 from individual donors, $250,000 from the Friends of Crete Public Library and $150,000 from local corporations.

Features include a county-wide storm shelter that can hold up to 450 people, three study rooms, a children's reading garden, virtual reality games, an adult reading area with a two-sided fireplace, a small cafe, a conference room, a book drop-off and pickup window and more.

Crete library director Joy Stevenson had spent time over the last several years touring 30 public libraries across several Midwestern states, looking for ideas to bring back to Crete. With ample space and plenty of modern amenities, Stevenson is confident that Crete's new library will be a more welcoming destination than the old building ever was.

"You just got the sense from people in the old library that they wanted to stay, but it just wasn't very comfortable," Stevenson said. "A lot of times, it just filled up. There wasn't space. Now, we have a lot more private, smaller rooms. We are already getting a lot of bookings for the rooms."

Crete's library is staffed by five full-time and four part-time workers. Stevenson says there's still a little more work to be done inside the building. More furniture needs to be ordered, and certain displays need perfecting. She called the opening day Thursday exhausting, but rewarding.

"It does feel good," Stevenson sighed, "but there's still so much work to do."

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