Murrysville Community Library is preparing to unveil a newly renovated space during a grand reopening April 21, with some additional work planned for outside the building.
“We were awarded the grant in October 2024, and we spent most of 2025 planning things,” library director Katherine Neidig said. “The work started in January and only took a couple months to complete.”
The library’s layout has been updated, with redesigned lounge areas for adults and teens, a new area with updated computers and three quiet study rooms that can serve a variety of functions.
“I’m excited about it all,” Neidig said. “We have a new computer space for people to use, a new teen section we’re really excited about with a little lounge section where they can hang out.”
Neidig wants to highlight the three quiet study rooms that were built during the renovation.
“The grant is designed to encourage people to use broadband services, so the quiet study rooms were designed with that commitment in mind,” she said. “People can use them to do schoolwork, for telework or telemedicine, and we also plan to use them for working with veteran service organizations, to help local veterans connect with the resources they need.”
The library was last updated in 2013. The current project follows community surveys that identified quiet study rooms as the top priority for patrons.
“With the grant, we’ve started looking at serving different demographics in the community,” Neidig said. “That includes working more with veterans, and we’d also like to offer better programming for people with autism or other disabilities.”
Toward that end, the library also received resources from nonprofit Achieving True Self to create a sensory space within the library.
“It will have items like fidget toys and sensory stimulus like textured wall panels,” Neidig said.
Library staff sought to strike a balance between the traditional functions libraries have served and the evolving role they play today.
“Traditionally, libraries have been all about books,” Neidig said. “But with technology expanding, we want to make sure people know the library is a place where they can trust the resources they’re getting. But we also wanted to draw a larger focus on the broadband-related services we offer: databases where students can find trustworthy articles for school reports and things like that.”
And although they are not officially connected to the indoor renovations, Murrysville council voted recently to address sidewalks outside the library.
“There’s a tripping hazard up there that we kind of rectified, but in conjunction with the library doing its remodel, we’re hoping to put this work out for bid,” Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said. “The ADA ramp there is not compliant because it was installed before those requirements went into place. And right now, unless you park in one particular spot, it’s kind of hard to get up onto the ramp, so they’re going to make that easier to use from an ADA standpoint.”
Part of the library’s $400,000 renovation grant also included the creation of outdoor seating.
“Staff is looking for an area where that can happen, but we don’t have a place just yet,” Nestico said.
The grand reopening will be from 5 to 7 p.m. at the library, 4130 Sardis Road. To RSVP, email foundation@murrysvillelibrary.org by April 10.