Penacook library branch to close doors Monday, reopen at new home in December

An aerial drone photo by William Brochu of Brochu’s Nursery and Landscaping of the Penacook Community Center and new library  off of Commnity Drive in Penacook. Brochu’s did the landscaping for the project.

An aerial drone photo by William Brochu of Brochu’s Nursery and Landscaping of the Penacook Community Center and new library off of Commnity Drive in Penacook. Brochu’s did the landscaping for the project. COURTESY

Patrons are shown leaving the Concord Library's Penacook branch on May 5, 2018.

Patrons are shown leaving the Concord Library's Penacook branch on May 5, 2018. Caitlin Andrews/file

The outside of the Concord Library's Penacook branch.

The outside of the Concord Library's Penacook branch. Caitlin Andrews/file

By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN

Monitor staff

Published: 11-15-2024 3:28 PM

The Penacook branch of the Concord Public Library will close its doors for good on Monday in preparation of its move to the newly unveiled Penacook Community Center.

Dating back to the start of the 20th century, the 3 Merrimack St. building has housed the library for more than 75 years. The city has planned to sell it and, as a farewell project, city librarians are collecting stories and personal histories of time spent there. 

Over the next few weeks, library materials will be moved to the new space, which will open to the public on Dec. 5. 

The new, $6 million Penacook Community Center on Community Drive was built by the Boys and Girls Club and much of it serves as a day care. The city purchased a portion of the project for $1.3 million to house the new library branch in 2022.

The new library will be open on Mondays from 9 a.m – 3 p.m., Thursdays from 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. and Fridays from noon – 6 p.m., with programming for seniors in the middle of the day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

With the current building having an assessed value of just over $330,000, the city opted to move the library to a new facility rather than to dive into a renovation, which estimates said would have cost nearly $1 million and left outstanding accessibility and parking issues. The Heritage Commission has been drawing up a deed restriction that would ensure the historic building is preserved if it were sold, and there has been some private interest in turning it into housing, according to minutes of the group’s November meeting.

Those wishing to contribute to the history project for the current library can contact  santhony@concordnh.gov.  

Catherine McLaughlin can be reached at cmclaughlin@cmonitor.com

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

New Hampshire pockets benefits for foster kids. A Concord High student is trying to change that.
If ‘urgent care’ works for humans, why not for pets? New option coming to Concord
Epsom administrators say state rep misrepresented meeting cited as prompting bill that would diminish curriculum requirements
"She's the guardian angel for all of us:" Principal's secretary in Dunbarton goes above and beyond her job description
A whole lot of people can’t wait to land their plane on a friction-free runway
Fielding questions and concerns over Trump, Maggie Goodlander works to find her footing in Congress