Executive Director Tim McFadden opened the doors of the newly expanded and renovated Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library on May 28 to a guided tour for library volunteers.

Ten volunteers walked through those doors: Helen McBrearty, Barbara Wilson, Cindy Holton, Marge Creaser, Joyce Armendaris, Sharon Pulkkinen, Wendy Curtis, Bonnie Ginger and Liz and Rob Lussier. They were shown a new entryway from the parking lot, an expanded new front desk area, a great room, a reading room, a “tween” room where younger readers can have some space to themselves, and all new modern LED lighting and carpeting.

The second floor, accessible through the new beautiful, wide stairway, and an outside stairway that will double as a fire escape, is nearly finished, though plans for usage are still underway. And access will be limited until an (outside) elevator is installed. “We want the library to be fully accessible to people who have a hard time getting around,” McFadden said. As soon as the elevator is installed, the second floor will be fully available.

After McFadden showed the group of volunteers around, they got down to the business of scheduling times for transporting the library's most important items — the books.

Once the shelves are installed, and the books, DVDs, CDs and all the new computers and equipment are in place, the doors will be opened to the public on June 24.

McFadden said he’s thankful for the library volunteers. "Our volunteers are essential to the operations of the library. Without them we would struggle to provide the services we do within the budget we work with.

“It was a pleasure to give them a sneak peek at the newly renovated space. They all came away impressed and excited about the positive changes the new space will mean for the community.”

And he said none of this would have happened without help from the community. “(The thought of) those who gave to make this happen is uplifting in itself. The quality of the work is tremendous, and we're all thrilled with it.”