After breaking ground in June, construction on Hawthorne’s new library is well underway and on schedule for a projected opening to the public in early 2026.
The new 10,000-square-foot building is budgeted to cost around $3.5 million.
It will feature a Snuggle Up Center, Teen Space, Quiet Reading Room, study rooms and a MakerSpace area, aiming to reach the Alachua County Library District’s (ACLD) goal to enhance its libraries and give the Hawthorne community more ways to utilize the facility.
The Headquarters Library in downtown Gainesville opened its MakerSpace in March. Visitors are able to use tools such as 3D printers, sewing machines and laser cutters with the assistance of library staff.
The current 3,000-square-foot Hawthorne library at 6640 SE 221st St. will remain open during construction but will be torn down and turned into a parking lot after the new building’s completion.
Hawthorne City Manager Robert Thompson said the construction crews are moving fast and were going to start pouring concrete around 1 a.m. when it’s cooler in the day.
“The foundation is there now, and from everything I’ve heard, everything seems to be moving along as planned,” said ACLD spokesperson Brad McClenny.
According to ACLD Library Director Shaney Livingston, the Hawthorne library was scheduled for a new building this year as part of the district’s 20-year capital projects improvement plan.
The Hawthorne library first opened in 1959 along with the Micanopy and High Springs branches. Ten years later, construction of the library’s current location was completed in 1969 and the branch became part of ACLD in 1987.
Mayor Jacquelyn Randall said after visiting other libraries in the district that had more space than Hawthorne’s, she’s looking forward to the new library having the same opportunities.
“I went over to Waldo to work on the Alachua County Remembrance Project with soil collection, and we would meet over in the Waldo Library,” she said. “As small as it seems, I was impressed by the library, the room space. We didn’t have that room that they have. So to hear that now that we have that option, I don’t think people understand.”
—With reporting by Seth Johnson