By Rachel Knight
In 2008, College Station residents voted to make an $8 million investment in literacy, learning, and entertainment by passing a bond to renovate and expand the Larry J. Ringer Public Library. When the library reopens later this month after being closed for renovations, the public will enjoy all of their favorite things about visiting Ringer Library before the project began with additional perks of more space, a larger collection, and a new cohesive aesthetic appeal.
The library expansion project added an additional 12,000 square feet to Ringer Library and included a complete renovation of its pre-existing 16,000 square feet. More space allows the library to better serve College Station’s growing population with expansion of the library’s collections, more storage, and a larger staff area better equipped for developing new programs. The additional space also provides more room for activities, including quiet areas for reading and studying.
Ringer Library is actually one of three branches in the Bryan+College Station Public Library System. Jessica Jones, branch manager at Ringer Library, says it is important for communities to invest in public libraries, because the library is often the only comfortable place to go that is free and provides engaging entertainment in a climate-controlled setting.
“It makes it a really special space in a community because it is equal access for everybody and that’s a really big deal to us,” Jones explains. “We want it to be available to everyone, which means we need a big enough space for everyone who wants to be there to actually be there. It’s a good space, designed for people to learn and be informed and also to entertain themselves.”
The expansion project has made Ringer Library better equipped to serve everyone in the public who wishes to use it. Before the expansion, the library had to turn kids away for their reading program, because the meeting rooms were too small to accommodate everyone, says Larry Ringer, namesake of the library and former mayor of College Station. Now, the children’s space is twice as big and the meeting space where story time is conducted is about three times bigger.
In addition to larger gathering and activity spaces, the expansion also includes more room for a growing collection. “It’s an area for adding collection and an area for people to use that collection in terms of spaces where you can sit and read or do research,” Ringer shares.
Thanks to the expansion project, Ringer Library now features five private study rooms that can accommodate one or two people each. “Those have doors that close so that it stays nice and quiet,” Jones says.
Jones also says she hopes to bring in Texas A&M University graduate students as guest speakers now that the library is better equipped to do so with a new audio/video system. “It’s also a chance for them to kind of practice their public speaking,” she shares. “I’m kind of looking at it from a service/learning perspective, too. Don’t let your defense be the first time you speak publicly about what you do.”
While several things have changed at Ringer Library, its best qualities remain intact. Jones says the library still has a welcoming atmosphere and holds the same reasons to love Ringer Library that existed before the expansion, including involvement from its namesake.
“He’s everywhere and he’s very hands on with the library,” Jones shares. “People in the library know who he is. He’s not just an abstract face.”
Ringer says public libraries are an important source in a community for many reasons, including the access they provide to reading materials, research opportunities, and their ability to introduce children to literacy. “It’s just an important part of the community,” he shares. “It’s a part that every community should have.”
