By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HARPERSVILLE—The Harpersville Public Library is gearing up for some big changes in the coming months. The library will soon be moving across the street from its current location into the historic Borum-Darby House.

“We are so excited,” Library Director Marsha Moore said. “We have been in the same location for nine years.”

The library, with its nearly 15,000 books and DVDs, has outgrown the small metal structure it is currently housed in.

“We are absolutely covered,” Moore said with a laugh. “The children’s room (of the new building) is probably bigger than this whole space.”

In addition to a spacious children’s room, the layout of the new library space includes a fiction room, a non-fiction room and a multi-purpose reading room. The library will also house “antiques that are important to the city” and a welcome center for visitors in the front foyer.

Moore said she hopes the extra space in the Borum-Darby House will enable the library to offer more programs and expand existing ones, such as the children’s summer reading program, which can see up to 35 children per session.

“This will be perfect,” Moore said, noting the children’s room will remain “a little open” to accommodate a variety of programs and activities.

The Borum-Darby House is currently undergoing preparations to transform it into a library.

“We’re in the painting stage,” Moore said. “We’ll definitely need more shelves than we have here… We have to have shelves built and a circulation desk built.”

Additionally, wireless Internet service will be installed in the new library location. Moore said she hoped the library would be ready to open in the coming months.

“We’re on the road,” Moore said. “The ball is rolling.”

According to a news release from the city, the Harpersville City Council approved the library expansion and lease of the Borum-Darby House during a February meeting.