Open house at Moniteau County Library held recently

Patrons tour services of Library @ Wood Place

At the open house, library patrons check out Heyssel Hall on the second floor of the library, while enjoying cookies, tea and coffee.
At the open house, library patrons check out Heyssel Hall on the second floor of the library, while enjoying cookies, tea and coffee.

An open house was held at Moniteau County Library @ Wood Place for patrons to check out the recent upgrades and additions.

New shelving has been added, along with basic improvements in the library part of the facility. The layout has been been improved, especially for the children's department. The $4,500 for the new steel shelving was donated by the E. M. Burger Foundation and the Elia Wood Paegelow Foundation. In addition to improving the previous shelving, there is also new space for about 200 books.

The library offers about 19,570 books, videos and CDs. There are an additional 19,000 digital resources available through the library's website. There are 14 public computers and four early literacy computers available. The library's public access computers and WiFi access totaled 13,925 uses last year, according to library records.

The patrons toured the first-floor library, then were able to go to the second floor to check out Heyssel Hall and the Bolinger Room, the new carpeting and paint, as well as the children's Early Literacy Activity Center. The Friends of Library Committee provided funding for the paint and carpet tile for Heyssel Hall and the elevator foyer. The center was brought about by a partnership between the CMCA Early Head Start Program and the E. M. Burger Foundation.

The Wood Place Library was originally established in 1955 by the First Christian Church with funds from the Elia Wood Paegelow Trust. It was originally in the Wood-Paegelow home on East Street and moved to 501 South Oak St. in 1998. The facility at the current location was provided after restoration of an historic building by California Progress Inc. In 2014, the library became Moniteau County Library @ Wood Place through a donation by the Wood Place Library Board.