{"id":80265,"date":"2025-12-08T12:51:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/80265\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:51:16","slug":"expanded-allen-public-library-reopens-after-more-than-a-year-heres-what-to-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/80265\/","title":{"rendered":"Expanded Allen Public Library reopens after more than a year. Here\u2019s what to expect"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Eileen Tollett moved to Allen as a newlywed in 1969, the city had fewer than 2,000 residents. Soon, she started volunteering at the \u201clittle bitty\u201d library in the old Woodman of the World Building downtown. <\/p>\n

In 1976, she became the first woman elected to the City Council and remembers voting for Allen to build a single public library. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe expected the town to build out at around 35,000 residents,\u201d Tollett said. \u201cWe had no idea how much it would grow.\u201d <\/p>\n

Allen now has 113,300 residents, according to the city\u2019s economic development corporation<\/a> and still has just one public library, at 300 N Allen Dr. It was originally 54,000 square feet and was constructed in 2005. <\/p>\n

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On Monday, the city will reopen the library, which grew by 18,000 square feet, including larger dedicated spaces for young children and teenagers, social gathering areas and six study rooms that can be reserved online. The new library also has four self-service devices for visitors to check out books, as well as an automated sorting machine for the library\u2019s 150,000-strong collection. The expanded library no longer includes the Food for Thought Market & Cafe that used to be in the lobby. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The check out area at the expanded Allen Public Library in Allen, Texas, Friday, December 5, 2025. The library will reopen Monday, December 8, after being closed for over a year. <\/p>\n

Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

The $19.9 million expansion was funded by a $16 million bond approved by voters in 2016 and additional city maintenance funds. The library closed in August 2024 and had been temporarily relocated to the former Rountree Elementary School campus while construction took place. <\/p>\n

The library was designed by the Carrollton firm Hidell Associates Architects, which has worked on more than 300 public libraries across the country. The architects incorporated feedback from a mayor-appointed steering committee of seven Allen residents that Tollett chaired. <\/p>\n

Tony Blaas, a principal at the firm, said he prioritized energy efficiency and making the space more inviting for children and teenagers. In the expanded children\u2019s section, kids can lounge on small orange chairs, play with puzzles and learn to type on colorful keyboards. The teen section has tripled in size and has TV screens, so teenagers can play video games together. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s area of the expanded Allen Public Library in Allen, Texas, Friday, December 5, 2025. The library will reopen Monday, December 8, after being closed for over a year. <\/p>\n

Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Tollett said the steering committee members all wanted the new library to have more space for children. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the earlier library, kids were crammed, and there was a limited number of programs,\u201d Tollett said, \u201cnow they have all the space in the world to explore.\u201d <\/p>\n

Blaas said he hopes the expanded library will meet residents\u2019 needs as the city grows. <\/p>\n

\u201cLibraries are the connecting building to the community,\u201d Blaas said. \u201cThe vision when we renovated was that it was going to be welcoming, modern and accessible.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Eileen Tollett moved to Allen as a newlywed in 1969, the city had fewer than 2,000 residents.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1242,960,223,160,162,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-80265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-allen","9":"tag-collin-county","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-plano","12":"tag-plano-headlines","13":"tag-plano-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}