Moving into the new library . . .

The day they've talked about for more than 15 years is less than a month away. Ceremonial dedication of the Brandywine Hundred Branch, New Castle County Library -- as it is to be known -- is scheduled for Apr. 12. The following day, the state-of-the-art facility in Talley-Day Park off Foulk Road will open for business.

Before any of that can happen, the collection of books and  audio-visual material -- some 150,000 items -- has to be assembled and placed on shelves.

The process began on Mar. 11 with the arrival of 2,100 boxes of new books. A week later, moving vans began trucking the weeded-out collection from the former Concord Pike Library in Talleyville.

In addition to serving the Brandywine Hundred community with a seven-day operation, the new library will be a hub for the entire county system.

INSIDE LOOKING OUT --- A view of the colonnade portico on the north side of the library, a signature feature of the structure where patrons are expected to gather in favorable weather to read and shmooz. The bricks in piles are commemorative bricks sold to raise money for the public contribution to the cost of the facility.

County government hired Office Movers Inc. of Baltimore to transport the Concord Pike material. Although specialized, the process was similar to what is done with any other commercial move, according to a company supervisor.

Inside, there are shelves to fill -- row upon row of them. The new books are in boxes, the transported ones on carts. But when the job is finished, the result will be a fully integrated accumulation on a wide variety of topics.

In the final analysis, it all comes down to people doing their thing. Stacking the shelves, one book at a time, are James Brooks (top photo) and Mata Karimu (left) of Office Movers, and (above, from back to front) Ken Gross, Carol Witsberger, Judy Hill and Florence McComsey of the county's Department of Community Service. That department will staff and operate the new library.