CONTRIBUTED BY
THE CITY OF OPELIKA

Lewis Cooper Jr. Memorial Library (Cooper Library) has closed to move to its new home at 1100 Glenn St. The former facility, completed in 1976, served Opelika for more than 40 years. Originally intended to house 46,000 books, a children’s section with a reading well, an art gallery, a historical room and an audio-visual room, current needs have outgrown the building’s capacity.

Over time, those spaces have transitioned to meet the needs of our rapidly growing city, and the new facility on Glenn Street is yet another transition.

The public is invited to the Grand Opening of the new facility on Saturday, Oct. 2.

A ribbon cutting will be held at 10:30 a.m. followed by a celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The new Opelika Public Library facility will expand on the library as a community space. Increasing individual study rooms appropriate for one to two people from two rooms to four rooms; adding two group study rooms suitable for eight to 10 people; and increasing community meeting space to two group meetings rooms suitable for 30 to 40 people; and a large auditorium seating up to 250 people with a warming kitchen perfect for event catering needs. All spaces will be available for reservation and will be able to host a variety of events. Additionally, we will increase the computer lab capacity and add a family computer lab for those with small children.

“We are excited to use this new space to continue growing as a community hub. Though you can borrow books and movies and attend fun and educational programs, we want to continue to become a dynamic and responsive institution. We want to build up our community and work with other local agencies to make sure all community assets are fully utilized by those who need them,” said Rosanna McGinnis, who has been library director since 2016.

During the closure, eBooks and other digital resources are available at www.opelikalibrary.com