Central Library Reopened After $50M Renovations

Forget about whispering in the library. Central Library is a place where there are magicians and bubbles.

"Libraries aren't typically thought of as a place where you can get noisy and do a lot of motion or movements and get loud or messy," said Central Library representative Stacy Morehead.

Of course, people are still checking out books, but they don't even need a library card. There's an app for that. 

"You can just have it on your phone ready to go,” said Central Library staff member Amanda Blanton. “You don't need to have your physical card; you don't have to keep track of it."

Technology is around every corner.

The iPad lounge allows people to sit down and scroll through the paper, but if you want a hard copy, that's also available.

Patrice Rolisa brought her own tablet Saturday. She's working to improve her knitting skills.

"One of my relatives is having a baby, so I'm knitting a baby blanket," she said.  

Rolisa plans to check out a book about knitting and says technology takes her understanding one step further.

"Using the computer and looking at videos helps me put what I see to make my hands do the work,” she stated. “And see, it worked! I mean it looks pretty good for somebody who's only been doing this for four or five years."

But despite all the screens and activity, some simply go just to read. 

Library CEO Gary Shaffer says the Central Library is the first library in the United States to have a Starbucks Coffee store inside. Shaffer says everyone working at Starbucks is a library employee, and all profits will go to the library.