Coos Bay Public Library director Carol Ventgen talks about the upcoming renovations to the facility. The area where she is seated will become staff workspace behind a new wall, with new circulation counters behind that. World Photo by Lou Sennick

COOS BAY — A visit to the library isn’t what it use to be. James Partmann can remember a time when someone speaking in so much as a whisper would have elicited a round of librarian hushing. Now, whole conversations are exchanged without even a raised eyebrow from the front desk.

Of course back then, the Eastside resident would have been perusing the library for books. On Wednesday, Partmann left the Coos Bay Public Library carrying a bag full of DVDs.

He isn’t alone.

According to Library Director Carol Ventgen, DVDs, video cassettes and books on tape account for nearly half of all the items checked out from the library. Their popularity may increase further once changes are completed to the library’s entrance within the next two months.

Currently, the first thing a visitor comes across when entering the library is a bank of computer terminals. Notoriously underutilized, these machines will be replaced with new display cases that will feature the library’s audio and visual offerings, as well as the most recently received books.

“Right now our media section is very messy and hard to look through,” Ventgen said. “Our goal is to make it much easier for people to find what they are after.”

She noted that the library currently has a lot of video cassettes in storage that it cannot put on the floor because it lacks display space. In addition to adding shelves, the renovations will allow librarians to sort through the collections and weed out unused items and add new materials.

The area will also get a new look with tile flooring replacing the existing carpet. And a second self-serve checkout machine will be added to the area as well.

Changes also will include the relocation of the front desk into the center of the main area of the library. In its place, the library will create a storage space for the Friends of the Library, to allow them to operate a used book store.

“They are just so extremely crowded in their current space,” Ventgen said. “After the renovations, the Friends of the Library will have double the space.”

On Wednesday, the organization’s president, Marie Benton found herself surrounded by boxed books in the existing space. There was barely enough space to walk from one end of the room to the other, let alone look for a book. But once the additional space is made available, Benton envisions putting on display some of the better books that the Friends have in their collection.

“We will put out fiction that is more current and has been well kept,” she said. “Though I’d also like to see a section for some old and weird things, too.”

The book store will serve as a supplement to the group’s frequent books sales, which will continue to take place about 10 times a year.

“It would be impossible to handle all the books we receive without having those sales,” Benton said.

Ventgen said contractors are expected to begin work on the various projects some time in mid-February, though dates have not been set. She said the project, which is being paid for by a mixture of grants and donations, is suppose to take a total of about three weeks. While most of the work is taking place, the remainder of the library will remain open, with check out stations relocated to the children’s section and the reference desk near the computer lab.

When the entrance area is remodeled, the library will be temporarily closed, Ventgen said, though dates have yet to be determined.

“It will probably be about a week. I’m just guessing,” she said.

The new front desk will have a better vantage point of the magazine alcove and the children’s wing, both sections having been built during the additions made in 1999. The tables that currently are located where the desk is set to move will be placed in various locations throughout the library, though Ventgen said some might be sold.

Ventgen said the changes should make it easier for visitors to inspect the sections.

Bianca Chevalier said such changes would probably most benefit some of the older visitors to the library. Chevalier, who lives in North Bend, said she comes to the library once or twice a week to check out books on tape, new novels and DVDs. She likes the selection of items at the Coos Bay library and has no problem grabbing items from bottom shelves, but that is not the case for everyone.

“I notice a lot of people who are older and it’s hard for them to reach all the way down,” she said. “Maybe if they could realign the space so items could be higher.”

Partmann, who moved to Eastside about six months ago, has been to the library about 10 or 12 times, primarily to check out DVDs. His favorite selections include westerns, pirate-type films and Biblical movies, but since the stacks are listed alphabetically, he has to flip through all sorts of genres to find what he is looking for.

“It would be nice if they could set them up in sections instead of us going through every one,” he said.

Partmann didn’t disagree that the DVD aisles get crowded some times, but he didn’t think it was a problem.

“Everyone just rolls and crawls around each other,” he said. “They are real good about it.”