By Megan Alley
Sun staff
The Clermont County Public Library-Milford-Miami Township Branch at 1099 Ohio 131 is set to close its doors at 5 p.m. on Jan. 20 to begin a move from the old building into the new building, located at 5920 Buckwheat Road.
The closure will give staff time to move materials to the new location.
“It’s not a difficult move; this is a normal process that the library takes,” Theresa Herron, CCPL communications manager, said. “We have to physically move all of the items from that branch to the new branch. We have to put everything on shelves, we have to clean the shelves … and then you have to make sure that all the books are in the right place.”
Book drops will not be available at the old location after the closure.
During the move, returns will be accepted at the following nearby branches:
– Goshen, 6678 Ohio 132.
– Owensville, 2548 U.S. Route 50.
– Union Township, 4450 Glen Este-Withamsville Road.
The new branch is just one part of CCPL’s rich history in Milford and Miami Township.
In the early 1900s, the Milford Village Improvement Society created a private library at 19 Water St.; the Milford Branch Library evolved from this one, according the website for the branch.
In 1955, the CCPL was formed and offered two bookmobiles.
In 1959, the library trustees started discussions with the Milford library trustees, and that fall, the existing facility became the first CCPL walk-in branch.
In 1983 – driven by the need for more space, and with the help of a $200,000 grant from the Library Services and Construction Act – the CCPL converted the former Ohio Valley Egg Co-Op property at 934 Lila Ave. into the Milford Branch.
Then in 1996, space constraints and structural problems forced the library to search for a new location, and in 1997, the library reopened – with a new name better identifying its expanded service area: the Milford-Miami Township Branch Library – in the old Rock Bottom Grocery Surplus building, located at 1099 Ohio 131.
“We’re very excited,” Herron said. “This new branch is going to have some really neat features.”
In addition to “lots of books, movies, music and more,” the new branch boasts:
– A computer lab.
– A maker lab.
– Study rooms.
– A large meeting room.
– A bright children’s area.
– A quiet room.
– A coffee café.
– Room in the back of the building for the library’s administration offices and support departments.
The new Miami Township Branch Library is set to open its doors to the public for the first time at 1 p.m. on March 17.