A sneak peak at the newly-renovated Carmel Clay Public Library

One of the most striking features of the newly-renovated main branch of the Carmel Clay Public Library is the grand staircase, connecting the main floor to the adult stacks above, but that isn’t the only impressive feature of the overhauled facility.

You can check out these features yourself, after the ribbon cutting on Sat., Oct. 1, at 8:30 a.m, which will launch a day full of activities, including virtual reality demonstrations and tours.

The expansion of the library took two years and saw Carmel Clay library patrons using a former Marsh supermarket for services in the interim while construction was ongoing. 

The new facility incorporates a state-of-the-art digital media lab, vast programming spaces, a parking garage with a skybridge, and expanded facilities for children and adolescents—both of whom will be in plentiful supply, as the Library is located between Carmel High School and Carmel Elementary. A slightly older crowd might appreciate the expanded library bookstore and the hand-crafted woodwork behind the main information desk. Podcast enthusiasts will find state-of-the-art facilities incorporated in the Digital Media Lab, which will also have 3D printers available.

For those who don’t want to get out of their cars while dropping off their books, there is a drive-thru book drop off.

“That’s what we heard from the community so we delivered,” Beth Meyer, assistant director of the Carmel Clay Public Library, referring to the library expansion plans shepherded by the library’s board of directors, based on surveys, data and public input, and deemed necessary because of Carmel’s explosive population growth, which had more than doubled from 46,000 (according to US Census data) in the two decades since the library was first built in 1999.

One of the most obvious areas that required expansion was the former community room, which only fit 100. Accordingly, the new programming room near the northwest entrance accommodates up to 387 people, and can be divided in two by a skyfold (an acoustic vertical folding retractable wall). “So we can run two programs simultaneously,” Meyer explained. Adjacent to the programming room is a kitchen prep area.

Java House will provide cafe service, in a space dedicated to hospitality, a contrast to the former cafe space which had been located in a busy hallway at the northwest entrance.  

There are features of the old library, however, that many patrons would not want to dispense with. At the head of this list is “The Reading Girl,” the bronze sculpture by Mary Buckman. You will find the “Girl,” which many thousands of children have encountered over the years, across from the main information desk.

“You can see how many little hands have touched her arm,” Meyer said.

The Reading Girl, sitting in front of the Library Boosktore

The grand staircase