Mayfield Library Opens Doors to New $11.7M Building

Hundreds of area residents packed the new Mayfield Library Saturday to enjoy a grand opening celebration, complete with new books, activities and ice cream.

Despite the large turnout, there was no shortage of space — the library at 500 SOM Center Road is a whopping 30,000 square feet. Its features include 62 public access computers and nearly 440,000 items available for checkout.

URS Corp. included several eco-friendly design elements like skylights that can sense and adjust to how much daylight is getting into the library. Cuyahoga County Public Library expects significant savings because the $11.7 million structure is about 40 percent glass, with both short and long windows throughout. Some of the windows have special glass that diffuses light, eliminating hot spots that could cause long-term damage to the library's collection.

The building exceeds American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers requirements by 26 percent, according to URS.

The library's floor is raised, so all of its data, heating, cooling and electrical cables flow below patrons.

There are four individual quiet study rooms, a resource room, a storytime room, a teen room, children's play area, cafe and technology learning center.

"We're increasingly becoming centers of community life," Cuyahoga County Public Library spokesman Rob Rua said. "We still have all the books and materials that people want and need, but in addition to that we have the computer classes, after-school tutoring, we're processing passports, we're designing really neat, interactive children's spaces where children learn basic skills they'll need to succeed later on.

"It's an exciting time."

The library is one of 18 replacement and renovation projects in the Cuyahoga County system. The project was funded out of a capital budget, separate from taxpayer funds.

Along with the other projects, Mayfield's energy savings are expected to eventually help the system reduce its operating budget by $4 million.

The library system broke ground on the new branch last May. Panzica Construction Co. managed the project.