Ennis Public Library to showcase its renovations during special event Saturday, July 19

The city of Ennis will host a celebration of the Ennis Public Library’s recent renovations on Saturday, July 19.

A special reopening ceremony will be held at 10 a.m., with the festivities including tours, community craft activities, and light refreshments.

Located at 501 W. Ennis Ave., and across the street from the historic Raphael home, the library intends the event to serve as “a celebration of stories, spaces, and community.”

The Ennis Public Library’s service area includes about 28,000 people and extends outside of the city’s boundaries into several small communities that either don’t yet have a public library of their own or have limited resources, such as Bardwell. In any given year, the library may see as many as 60,000 visits, according to library director Jessica Diaz.

The library first opened its doors in 1982 at its 501 W. Ennis Ave. location, with additions made in 1987 and 1994. The building’s signature, stained-glass window has been on site since the beginning, with the recent renovations serving to highlight its artistry more.

To facilitate the most recent renovation, the library was temporarily moved into the old municipal building in March of 2023. Although originally slated to take about 13 months, several delays were incurred, with the library finally able to return during March 2025, even as some outside renovation work was wrapped up.

The results include additional square footage, major changes to the children’s area, new plumbing and electrical, new HVAC and duct work, additional insulation, and new internet cables.

“All of the infrastructure was upgraded,” Diaz said. “We are more climate-controlled now and have LED lighting. It’s just a much more comfortable, pleasant building to occupy. It’s very light and bright.”

She’s particularly proud that the stained-glass window is now the facility’s “big focal point” due to the removal of a small partial wall that had hampered its view before.

“That’s my favorite aspect right now,” Diaz said. “You can see the stained-glass window from almost all the library.”

She points to several new amenities with the renovation, including private spaces for studying and small meetings.

“Before, the only separate space we had was what we called the Learning Center, this one large room that had a stage and sloped floor,” she said, noting the floor was brought to level and the space divided into a community room and a conference room. “The stage became its own small conference room that accommodates a group of about 20, and the community room is the remainder of that large meeting space.”

The library has added a small, breakout room on its west side, which can be used by groups such as Legal Aid, which needed a spot to hold small meetings in private.

“That’s a great spot for them,” Diaz said, noting also two new study rooms that can be reserved for up to two hours in the library’s reference area.

“That’s the way of the future,” she said of people needing a place where they can do a Zoom call, as an example. “They need to do interviews and meetings without disturbing anybody else.”

The new shelving is lower so people can see over it, which Diaz believes contributes to a “more open feeling” while also eliminating the need for people to get up on step stools to reach the higher shelves. New furniture is located throughout the library, which also features multiple electronic device-charging stations for patrons’ use.

In the children’s area, an activity room was added, which allows the children’s librarian to do a story time and then have a place where a related craft can be done.

“She can have the craft supplies already set up in there, and they can transition over to that space and do the craft,” Diaz said. “And we’re looking forward to the possibilities that room is going to give us for after-school programming and things like that.”

She’s especially pleased with the new story time area, which took its previous tree and outdoor campsite theme to a whole new level, including the projection of “stars” onto its ceiling.

The library also has added an outdoor discovery courtyard, which is a fenced space on the library’s east side accessible only from within the library that allows children a safe spot to run around – or take a book outside and read.

“It took a space that was unusable and made it vibrant,” Diaz said. “When it comes to kids, we really try with programming to get kids into that habit of reading is fun. Let’s be a lifelong reader. Let’s kind of create community. We have story time. And you know, when we see families that connect at story time, and [with] that discovery courtyard open, they’ll be able to sit and visit while the kids play together, things like that.”

The library is also benefiting from “much more storage.”

“That was also something that we lacked,” Diaz said. “The previous layout was very difficult for storage for staff, and now we just really have a lot of options, and we feel more organized and more productive because of that.”

Since reopening, the kudos have been coming in from the public, which has had quite the positive reception to what’s been accomplished, according to Diaz, who’s heard comments ranging from “It smells so good” to “It’s light and bright” to “It smells like books.”

The renovation grew from an idea in 2020 under former city manager, Marty Nelson, to do a facade improvement. While working with the architects, several needs were identified, with the decision made to “touch more than just the front and outside,” Diaz said.

“Something I always like to point out is this is the city facility that sees the most residents and gets the most face views,” she said. “This is where we have so many people coming in, and we’ve always had a commission who’s been very supportive of the library.”

Overall, the project came in at about $7 million, including the new shelving and furniture.

Diaz encourages people to stop by the library, especially if they haven’t been in in a while, and see what it’s offering in the way of services now.

“We have a great staff of four full-time and three part-time who most have been here many years, and we enjoy helping the community and visiting with the community,” she said. “We hope that they think we’re a friendly place, and we’ve been told that we are more friendly and inviting (as compared to others). We take that to heart, and we think that’s, you know, the bluebonnet spirit.”

Library cards are free at the Ennis Public Library, whether one lives in or out of the city limits.

“The city commission changed that a few years ago, and we’ve tried to keep spreading the word about it,” Diaz said. “Yes, you can get a free library card with us, and that really was the commission saying we feel that this resource is valuable enough that we don’t mind losing a small amount of revenue from a user fee. We feel that it’s necessary for the public. We know that our residents don’t just live inside the city limits. We boil over those lines and into the countryside. There are so many neighborhoods and stuff going up right on the edges of town or in between Ennis and Waxahachie, and we’re seeing more and more people every day that say, ‘I’ve just moved to Ennis and I need to get a library card.’”

Written by Jo Ann Livingston/In The Know Ellis.