EAST LANSING, Mich. — After almost a year of renovations, the new-and-improved East Lansing Public Library (ELPL), 950 Abbot Road, will be unveiled to community members at a Grand Re-Opening celebration on Saturday, Oct. 1.
The event will include a brief program and ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon and family activities from noon-2 p.m. Family activities will include face painting, bubbles, balloon animals and much more. There will also be a giant pie from Grand Traverse Pie Company and cupcakes from Bake N’ Cakes.
ELPL’s exciting renovation project began in December 2015 thanks to a very generous donation of $1.5 million from a library patron. The funds have been used to renovate the interior of the library building and reconfigure the library floor plan to include more open space. Specific improvements include an expansion of ELPL’s Maker Studio, the addition of a cyber café with vending machines, new mobile shelving/furniture, an enhanced children’s area, an expanded teen space, the addition of small group meeting spaces, new bathrooms, a Mothers Room for nursing mothers and much more.
“We would like to, once again, thank our donor for the wonderful gift he has given to the library and the community,” said ELPL Director Kristin Shelley. “We would also like to thank our patrons for bearing with us during the renovations and the intermittent closures of the library over the past ten months. We can’t wait to unveil the new-and-improved space to community members.”
Community members and local media are invited to attend the Grand Re-Opening celebration. The event is free and open to all. For additional information, visit www.elpl.org/renovate or call (517) 351-2420.