Kingsport Public Library announces temporary closure date
The Kingsport Public Library will be closed to the public beginning May 10 in order to accommodate the relocation of its material to the Fort Henry Mall.
Once all of the material has been moved, library staff anticipate opening the Fort Henry Mall location on June 2. During this nearly one-month-long closure, the Kingsport Public Library will not be able to accept returned books.
Library staff are encouraging patrons to check out their favorite books starting April 28 – before the closure – and keep them until the mall location opens.
During the closure, library staff are also encouraging patrons to explore the wide variety of electronic offerings found on its website www.kingsportlibrary.org, including Hoopla, Overdrive (eBooks & audio books), Kanopy (movies, television shows and kids’ programs) and the Tennessee Electronic Library.
“Even though the physical library will be temporarily closed during much of the month of May, we’re encouraging families to check out our digital library in the interim,” said Library Manager Mary Thomas. “We have thousands of eBooks, audio books, movies and television shows, all easily accessible from our website. You might be surprised by what you find.”
Note – the Kingsport Archives (located on the fifth floor of city hall) will remain open during the relocation.
For more information on the relocation, please visit https://www.kingsportlibrary.org/library-info/move-to-the-mall.
The City of Kingsport earmarked $7 million last year towards the renovation and upgrading of the Kingsport Public Library. Kingsport has also secured a $2 million state grant to help make the project a reality. The project will include many key improvements to the library, such as
- Doubling the size of the children’s area.
- Creating dedicated space for children’s programming.
- Creating dedicated space and makerspace for teens.
- Installing a new elevator to ensure better accessibility.
- Adding four study rooms to provide dedicated spaces for focused learning.
Establishing dedicated space for local history and genealogy.
