"I'm really happy, because an old fellow like me needs a place to hang out and it's great for that," said library patron Neill Sinclair.
"It's very important, because it's an event for us," said Sarah Chromy. "I'm a stay-at-home mom, full-time, so it's really nice to have something to go to."
Hundreds of people paraded through the front doors for the first time on Saturday. The branch is expected tol serve at least 1,300 people a day. They had nearly that many in the first hour.
There are 15,000 square feet of new space. That's nearly double what they had before, and they're filling it with 50,000 new books.
"We've always been in a building we've tried to make a library -- in the department store for years, then we moved to a cafeteria for our temporary space," said library manager Dale Cousins. "So finally, we're in a library space designed to be a library from the ground up."
And users didn't waste any time. They browsed the books on the shelves, and browsed the Internet on 60 new computers. Workers are relieved to be home at last, but they expect the next several weeks to be extra busy.
When the library closed its temporary building last month, people were encouraged to check out as many books as they wanted. Those books are due back in February. However, from now through next month, you can return books to the Cameron Village Library without a late fee.
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