SANFORD – It’s been a long wait for patrons of the Louis B. Goodall Memorial Library in Sanford, but for General Manager Julie Norsworthy, it’s been worth it.

“It’s so much bigger, and it’s so welcoming and fun to walk into every day, but we didn’t lose that homey, cozy feeling that this library always had, and that was the most important thing,” she said.

The library officially reopened on July 7, but an official grand reopening ceremony will mark the occasion on Saturday.

Prior to the reopening, the library had moved from the 952 Main St. building it had occupied since 1937 and into a temporary space at a strip mall down the street next to a fitness center. 

The library stayed in that temporary space for about a year and a half before moving back this summer. On Monday, Norsworthy gave a tour of the upgrades.

In some of the older parts of the building, such as where the children’s room is, the renovations were minimal, just a “face lift” of new carpeting and paint, Norsworthy said.

But in other parts, more extensive work was done. Some walls were knocked down, making more room to potentially expand the library down the road. The work also made the space feel more open, Norsworthy said.

“You’re not so claustrophobic,” she said. 

The library’s slate roof also got an upgrade.

“No more buckets catching water,” Norsworthy said.

Other new additions include study and meeting rooms. Now, Norsworthy said, homeschooling parents have spaces where they can bring their children to do their work.

There are technical upgrades, too, she said, including new computers, an updated website and faster internet service. 

“Everything is just modernized and faster,” she said.

The library gets plenty of use. Norsworthy said in an average week it sees 500 people or more. So far, she said, the patrons have welcomed the upgrades.

“They love it,” she said. “They walk in, and they’re like, ‘Wow!’”

The upgrades were expensive, costing about $3.9 million, but Norsworthy said local taxes didn’t pay for any of it. About $3 million of the costs were covered by a grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the rest, she said, came from local endowments.