MOULTRIE, Ga. — Residents are once again able to visit the local library, following its reopening Tuesday morning at a temporary location at 225 S. Main St.

Holly Phillips, library director, said the library moved to allow for renovations at its longtime home on Fifth Street Southeast.

“We’re doing a total renovation of that library and it should be around November when they get finished with all of it,” Phillips said.

Phillips said that the library has had to downsize at the temporary location but is still able to perform most of its operations.

The temporary location still has a computer lab, two genealogy offices, administrative offices, a children’s library and a circulation desk.

After closing for only a week, library goers were eager to have access to the public library.

“A lot of people knew, but during the process, people were still coming to the doors and we were explaining ‘one week,’” Phillips said. “Even while we’ve been here setting up, we had signs on the door saying we were closed and people were still coming in.”

Elder Rance Woodrow said that he uses the library to keep in contact with his family in Syracuse, Utah, while in Georgia working as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“We rely heavily on the library for internet access,” Woodrow said. “We as missionaries email our families and we were anticipating being able to do that, so when we found out a temporary location was opening, it was nice to know that so we could communicate with our families.

Pam Graves, a resident at Turning Point rehab facility, said that she uses the library as a source of entertainment and to keep her busy.

“The library is important to me,” Graves said. “I heard from a friend it was closing but there would be a temporary location, so I called because I had to return a book.”

“It’s definitely a big deal,” Phillips said. “Immediately, as soon as we opened, we were full.”

The temporary location is an old Ameris Bank office that they allowed the library to use free of charge, according to Phillips.

“We were lucky enough to have this location available, so that we could still operate,” Phillips said. “If we were in the old building, it would have slowed down the renovations and service.”

Phillips said the library is still planning on having their bigger summer programs, but locations will be announced at a later date.