PITTSFIELD -- The Pittsfield Public Library will soon move into a temporary space at Maine Central Institute as the library's massive expansion and renovation project enters its final months.

Starting Nov. 17 at 1 p.m., the library will be open with a limited supply of books in the Ella Powell Room at the MCI library. Its hours will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday, from 1 to 5 p.m.

Library officials expect to be in that temporary space for about a month, with the expectation that the project will finish around Christmastime, said Library Director Lyn Smith. Nearly all of the library's materials and furniture will be moved into storage while the project wraps up, and a smaller browsing collection for young children and adults will be set up in the temporary space, she said.

"What we're keeping is maybe 200 or 300 items," Smith said. "People can also make requests and they'll be delivered to MCI. Anything people are taking out now they can keep for an extended length of time."

During this time, books and other items can be returned at MCI or at the courtesy desk at Bud's Shop 'N' Save, Smith said.

Smith said library officials are grateful that MCI offered the temporary space.

According to Smith, MCI Headmaster Christopher Hopkins said, "'We will make this work; we will do whatever it takes.'"

The temporary space will have two computers, a phone and an Internet connection.

"They really want to show cooperation between the school and the community," Smith said.

Hopkins said the cooperation highlights MCI's goal to "participate in town events and projects more and more, and to welcome members of the surrounding communities to the school for speakers, performances, athletic games, and to take advantage of the facilities on this beautiful campus."

"I am delighted that we're able to support the library during its exciting renovation and help maintain access to the resources it provides for children and adults in the area," Hopkins said.

Heidi Cook, MCI's library media specialist, said the move will indeed be a challenge for staff and patrons, but also an opportunity.

"We are pleased to be able to provide a space for continued library service, and we also will be proud to have community members see young people at their best," Cook said.

Smith hopes to begin moving back into the library building around Dec. 19 and project contractors expect to finish a week or two after that, which is about a month longer than originally planned.

The project is about seven years in the making; it will nearly double the size of the historic library building with a 3,600-square-foot addition attached to the 5,000-square-foot structure, which was built in 1904.

Nichols Construction LLC of Hudson has a $916,000 contract to complete the key phase of the long-standing project. No taxpayer money is needed for the work; it's paid for through private fundraising, more than 40 grants and other donations.

Once complete, the project will be the first major update for the 105-year-old library. The Beaux-Arts building, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983, was designed by New York architect Albert Randolph Ross after he completed the Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C.

The Maine State Library conducted an evaluation of the Pittsfield library and found it had about half the space it needed for the community being served.

Scott Monroe -- 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com