Bethlehem Library Notes for Wednesday, October 18, 2023
— Photo by Kristen Roberts
New look for plaza walkway: The Bethlehem Public Library has replaced its traditional brick walkway with asphalt to improve safety. The bricks would frequently ice over in winter, creating slippery and dangerous conditions.
Safety improvements to the library’s plaza walkway leading to the parking lot entrance are now complete. We spent most of last week pulling up the bricks on the plaza and replacing them with asphalt to improve traction and allow better access to the library on winter days.
Why?
Although the bricks were a much-loved part of our landscaping and will be missed, it has been a challenge to keep them ice free, even when other areas of library property have been treated and cleared. Icing on the plaza was the leading cause of unplanned library closures during the winter. Overall, the icy bricks posed a major hazard to those entering and leaving the library, and the library’s board of trustees felt compelled to make the change for the safety of our visitors.
What will happen to the bricks?
At this time, the bricks are being stored on library property. The board is evaluating options for their reuse, but there are no plans to dispose of them.
Special thanks.
The library would like to extend special thanks to the town Highway Department, whose workers paved the areas through a shared services agreement between the library and the town. Their careful work helped maintain the integrity of the plaza design. We’d also like to give a huge shout-out to our maintenance team, who worked tirelessly to remove the bricks in a timely manner (with a little help from the library’s tractor, Scoopy) leading to minimal disruptions to library visitors. And finally, we’d like to thank all of our library visitors for their patience as we rerouted foot traffic in order to finish the project.
Comments or questions? Give us a call at 518-439-9314 or email us at info@bethpl.org.