Miami's oldest public library in the city's Little Haiti neighborhood is shutting down for about ten months to undergo extensive renovations.
The Lemon City Public Library first opened as a reading room in a small cottage in 1894. About eight years later, it moved into its first dedicated building. In 1964, the library moved again to a nearby building newly built at the time, 430 N.E. 61st St., where it currently resides.
“It's an older building that we really need to modernize to kind of reflect some of the current uses that we have in our most modern libraries,” said Ray Baker, the director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System.
The project to renovate the interior and exterior of the library is expected to cost $1.8 million. It will be funded by the library and general obligation bonds.
Some improvements include new furniture with USB and device charging ports, new concrete sidewalks, stairs and ADA ramp with aluminum handrails, new energy-efficient “cool roof” and impact-resistant windows and doors, as well as adding electric vehicle charging stations.
The last time improvements were made to the building was more than six years ago when the library added a YOUmedia Miami space — an area that allows teens to explore technology by creating podcasts, mixing music, designing video games and producing films.
“It was a small addition to the inside of the library, but the rest of the branch had not been updated in quite a while,” Baker added that they are excited to have a chance to update the rest of the library now.
During the project, library staff will be temporarily transferred to other branches, and the community will be re-directed to nearby locations — like the Little River, Edison Center and Arcola Lakes libraries.
However, people will still have access to the at-home delivery service where they can order books from the library catalog and have them delivered to their house.
And people can also still borrow tablets, Chromebook laptops or Wi-Fi hotspots to take home for 30 days with their library card. Availability for the Mobile Device Kits can be checked at any Miami-Dade Public Library System library and if available, it must be picked up at a selected location within seven days.
“It's our way of trying to help people get connected,” Baker added.
Renovations were due to start on Monday.
“ It's never fun to close but we also want the space to be better for all of those uses going forward,” Baker said.
For more information about a library near you visit the Miami-Dade Public Library System website or email customercare@mdpls.org.
