BRUNSWICK — Curtis Memorial Library staff, board members and supporters gathered to cut a big blue ribbon Thursday morning, unveiling an updated lobby space.

Curtis Memorial Library staff assist guests at a new help desk Thursday morning while celebrating the lobby renovation. (Katie Langley/Staff Writer)

The front entrance to the Brunswick library had been closed for five months during renovations. The roughly $300,000, donor-funded project adds new help desks, item drop-off areas, self-check-out machines, displays, improved lighting and more.

Additional elements are still to come, including moveable custom furniture.

The renovation celebration was also a sort of retirement party for Curtis’ leader of two decades, Liz Doucett, who was set to leave her role the day after the ribbon cutting.

“We said it was possible to finish this renovation project before she retired, but we actually did that — and it feels like no small feat,” library board Chair Tahnthawan Coffin said.

A “Hopeful” sign donated by artist Charlie Hewitt hangs above the new Curtis Memorial Library lobby. (Katie Langley/Staff Writer)

Doucett spoke about change Thursday — “hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.”

With parts of the library closed off during construction, “The library staff has spent five months going up and down stairs and being supportive, flexible and helpful,” Doucett said. “The work that they have done has just been extraordinary, and I don’t think they’ve missed a beat.”

The project was dreamed up by the library’s Customer Experience Manager Sarah Brown, who visited award-winning libraries across the U.S. in 2025 to gather ideas for building a community space. It was funded by donors, including large contributions from June and David Vail of Brunswick.

Guests gather Thursday morning to celebrate the renovation of Brunswick’s library. (Katie Langley/Staff Writer)

The renovation will be complete with the addition of a curved bench and laptop bar and cabinetry for the library’s coffee bar. Joy Fehl, the library’s marketing and development manager, said the furniture, made by Portland-based Studio 24b, will be added around September.

To wrap up Thursday’s festivities, June Vail, one of the main donors, reiterated a Voltaire quote that now hangs on a plaque in the new lobby: “Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.”

“I’ll echo Voltaire’s playful advice,” she said. “Keep on reading, and keep on dancing.”