Children will be among those to reap the benefits after a Port Macquarie Library upgrade to better cater to the evolving community needs.
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Construction work to upgrade the Grant Street library will start on Saturday, October 7.
A revamped children's area will be the centrepiece of library upgrades, with contemporary furniture, book collections and display areas also part of the $590,000 fit-out.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council secured a NSW government State Library Infrastructure Grant, which will fund $497,264, with the council contributing $92,937.
The renovation will be carried out in several stages throughout October and early November to minimise disruption to library services.
Library manager Jim Maguire said the main benefit will be to the children's area which will have a different look and be moved to a new location in the library.
While children will receive a significant boost from the upgraded layout, there will also be new garden spaces and upgrades to the service desk.
Mr Maguire said with the help of state library grants, there had been small discrete changes over time including a studio, study rooms and a dedicated gaming space called The Portal.
This revamp is a major refurbishment project.
Construction will occur across October 7 to 9, October 21 to 23, November 4 to 6 and November 18 to 19.
Port Macquarie Library will be closed for three Mondays on October 9, October 23 and November 6.
A mobile library service will operate outside the building on each of the closed Mondays.
"We are doing as much as we can to make it easy for people to keep accessing the service [during the upgrade]," Mr Maguire said.
There will also be slight disruptions to services on Friday, October 6 and Saturday, October 7.
Council group manager community Lucilla Marshall said this important work will provide a more engaging, versatile and modern space.
"We're incredibly thankful to the NSW government for its generous allocation of funding to undertake this vital upgrade to Port Macquarie Library," Ms Marshall said.
"As our digital and traditional services within the library continue to evolve, and our programs continue to grow, it is important to continue investing in our region's largest public library so that our various users can get maximum satisfaction from their visit.
"We not only want to retain current members, but also attract new, younger members of our community to consider the benefits of utilising the myriad of free services a public library has to offer."
In the last financial year, Port Macquarie Library loaned 396,171 items and had 174,765 people through its doors. Membership is sitting at 25,298.
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