Movers say they anticipate having the entire contents of the Sequim Library moved to the temporary space by Sunday, March 24, so staff can continue to prepare for an April 1 reopening date.

David Qualls, relocation consultant for Olympic Moving and Storage of Lakewood, said his staff this week will take down and move all the shelving from the existing library at 630 N. Sequim Ave., and reconstruct them at the temporary library, next to the former JCPenney’s building at 609 W. Washington St., Suite 21.

Library staff loaded the carts with books and materials so movers could wrap the contents in plastic as protocol, Qualls said.

Carts filled a 53-foot trailer, two-and-a-half times for transport across the city, he said.

The move out of the 40-year-old building at 630 N. Sequim Ave. clears space for construction slated to take place through spring 2025. It will add about 3,800 gross-square-feet of space and renovate the existing 6,255-square-feet library.

North Olympic Library System Executive Director Noah Glaude said there were five bids for construction earlier this month, and Hoch Construction of Port Angeles was the lowest bidder with an approximate $6.5 million base bid, and about $7.49 million total including alternates and taxes.

He said the library’s architect and project manager are reviewing the bids in hopes of presenting a contract to the library system’s board of trustees at their March 28 meeting for potential approval.

Hoch was contracted previously to renovate some of the temporary 10,000-square-foot library space, such as making a restroom Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible.

According to the NOLS website at nols.org/sequim, library staff estimated construction at about $6.2 million and about $3.120 million in soft costs, for an approximate $9.32 million total.

About $6.17 million has been raised, and staff indicated they might pursue general obligation bonds along with more grants while continuing to accept donations.

Library staff closed the library on March 10 for the move, with the temporary space opening Monday, April 1. It’ll operate from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.

The Bookmobile will continue to visit the site from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-noon Thursdays until the temporary library opens.

Items on hold between now and April 1 will be at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., and then return to the Sequim temporary library on April 1.

For more information, visit nols.org/sequim-move.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Corrina Desmarais, older adult services librarian, fills a cart inside the Sequim Library last weekend as she and other staff prepare to move and open a temporary library across the city on April 1.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ By calculations from Olympic Moving and Storage staff, they estimate they’ll need to have filled this trailer two-and-a-half times to move all of the Sequim Library’s books to a temporary space during construction.