When Cathy Cline walked into the newly built Scottdale Public Library on Spring Street for the first time, she felt like she was walking into a Barnes & Noble Booksellers store.
"Everywhere you look there's such cute little details," she said. "It's truly amazing and unbelievable to go from a hole in the wall to this beautiful facility. What a wonderful privilege it is for our community to have this wonderful resource."
She and her daughter Grace love the children's room, but Cline admits the "cozy" magazine nook with the leather chairs and fireplace is what draws her attention.
Library Director Patti Miller said everyone that comes in genuinely seems "thrilled."
"They can't believe they have something like this in their own town," she said. "They're just really happy with it, and it's a very satisfying feeling for the board and the staff."
One of the aspects Miller thinks the public enjoys about the new library is the color scheme, which uses warm colors such as orange and other fall colors.
"It's very welcoming, and the fact that people like it (the colors and decor) is very gratifying because it was an awesome task to plan all of this," she said.
Another aspect the community seems to like is the contemporary lighting throughout the building.
"When we give tours, about 80 percent of the time people comment on the lighting," Miller said. "They really like how our architect Jim Gaydon designed it."
She added that it's surprising how many people will just come in and sit in the comfortable leather chairs in the entry way just to talk.
Another big accomplishment or draw to the library is the new and much bigger children's room, where they recently held their first children's program and easily fit approximately 70 participants.
"This isn't the biggest children's program we've ever had, but it's definitely the most comfortable fit," Miller said.
Area residents have come to utilize the new facility for other things as well.
Jim Stile of Scottdale comes to the new library three to four times a week to look for job opportunities on one of the several new computers.
"There are more computers, it's more spacious and it's nice to have these resources available," he said.
Jason Sinsley, a Scottdale resident and student at Duquesne University, recently made his way to the library to catch up on some homework.
"I'm used to going to the library at college to do my work, and when I came home for the weekend, I heard this was open now and I decided to come here to do my work because I can't get anything done at home when I'm around my computer," he said.
While he doesn't recall visiting the old library too often, he is impressed with the quality of the new library.
"It's nice and bright and, really, almost like a college library," Sinsley said. "I was a little surprised that the Scottdale Library was this nice."
Library hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
For more information on upcoming events and schedule, visit the library's Web site at www.scottdalelibrary.org.
