Scenic Regional Library’s new Wright City branch at 60 Wildcat Drive is tentatively scheduled to open on Monday, May 21.A formal grand opening event for the new branch is being planned for a Saturday in mid-June.The 7,800-square foot branch, located near Wright City West Elementary School, will feature two study rooms; two shaded patios with outdoor seating; a large meeting room; video gaming for teens; designated teen, adult, and children’s areas; public computers; wireless Internet; a coffee bar; fireplace; and other amenities.The library purchased 12,000 new items (books, CDs, audiobooks, and DVDs) for the branch, which will be available on opening day.Renny McBride has been hired as manager of the Wright City branch. McBride served as the Adult Services Manager with O’Fallon, Ill., Public Library, where she gained extensive experience with adult and teen programming. She also served as the chairperson for the Summer Reading Program during her career at Bloomington Public Library, in Bloomington, Ill. She had previously served as the Local History Librarian with Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library. McBride started in her new position at Scenic Regional Library April 18.Virginia Mikulencak, the part-time youth services programmer at the Pacific branch since March 17, 2017, will transfer to the Wright City branch as the full-time youth services programmer. Mikulencak began working at the Wright City branch April 30. Prior to the new branch opening, she will be splitting duties between the Pacific and Wright City branches, visiting schools and promoting the Summer Reading Program, which begins June 1.The new facility will be open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 a.m.to 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. The branch’s phone number will be 636-944-6100. The branch’s Facebook page, which includes information about upcoming programs and events, along with other services, is www.facebook.com/WrightCityBranch. The public meeting room will be available for organizations to reserve, including when the branch is closed.Friends of the LibraryScenic Regional Library Director Steve Campbell will be giving Friends of the Library members a private tour of the branch before it opens to the public. The tour will be Thursday, May 17, from 7-7:30 p.m. Anyone can join the Friends group for as little as $10 a year. People who join the Friends group by May 10 will be invited to the tour.Friends of the Library groups are 501(c)(3) organizations and annual membership dues are tax deductible. All proceeds from Friends’ memberships are designated for their local branch.A Friends of the Library application can be picked up at any branch or printed from the Library Foundation’s website, www.scenicregionalfoundation.org. Applications can be submitted online with a debit or credit card on the site or mailed with a check to 304 Hawthorne Drive, Union, MO 63084.Individuals and businesses can purchase engraved donor wall “books” on the site that will be placed permanently in the lobby of the new branch.

Renny McBride

Virginia Mikulencak