Ukrainian Education Center reopened on August 23rd. While the Center was closed, we put all our efforts into moving the library from the second-floor hall to the first floor.

The ‘renovation project’ as we named it consisted of three steps. The first major step was to order the new shelving units to extend the shelving space in our library. Double-shelved books and books stacked on top of each other became a usual thing at the Center’s book shelves, which meant we had to increase the shelving space. Having too many items in the library was not a problem, of course, but was rather a blessing, since it showed that many people were willing to donate their items to the UEC.

The order was placed, the shelving units were prepaid. Then, with the beginning of July, we started preparing for the actual renovation.

The second step was creating a new door between the new library room and the new staff room. Cutting the hole in the wall where the door would be means a lot of dust. Then, we had to order a door to be installed. This turned out to be a difficult part, because the person who proved to be trustworthy and good-working on some renovation tasks earlier, turned out to not accomplish the task of making the door so well. Up to this day, there is no door installed, which is the last thing we have left to do.

Finally, the third step was to move the furniture from the old library room to the new library room, from the old video hall to the new video hall, and so on. Moving the library proved to be a difficult task. Five people worked on putting all the items into a temporary storage space for four hours. Later on, after the new library room was prepared, we could finally install the book shelves, computer tables, reception desk, CD racks, move all the items, etc.

No renovation is easy. There are still many little things to be finished up before we can finally claim it is all over. But we are happy we could reopen the Center on the day we planned and, even though not everything is done, we can serve our patrons better than before the renovation.

We want to thank all those who prayed for the renovation. Our special thanks go to Highland Street church of Christ and David Ralston, who eagerly agreed to sponsor this necessary project.

Posted September 1, 2004