For Immediate Release: Sunday, March 13, 2016 County Executive Isiah Leggett, Councilmember Nancy Navarro, Public Libraries Director, Parker Hamilton, County officials and representatives of the Friends of the Library, Montgomery County, Inc. officially closed the building on March 13. The closure will make way for the beginning of the construction of a new combined Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center, which is expected to open in 2018. “Closing the library for the final time is one more step toward a new and better Wheaton Library,” said Leggett. “Our General Services team will turn our vision for a progressive world-class library and recreation center into a reality.” During the construction, an interim site will be at located at 2400 Arcola Avenue, the site of the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad Ballroom at Wheaton Glen. The library hours will remain the same as the current branch hours: Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m., Friday/Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. The closest full service branches to Wheaton are Aspen Hill located at 4407 Aspen Hill Road; Olney located at 3500 Olney-Laytonsville Road; White Oak located at 11701 New Hampshire Avenue; Silver Spring located at 900 Wayne Avenue; and Kensington Park, 4201 Knowles Avenue. Kensington Park is scheduled to reopen on March 28 after being closed for a recent refresh. “The Wheaton Community has patiently waited for the day when construction on the new combined library/community recreation center facility would begin,” said Hamilton. “We will provide our Wheaton community with quality library service and programming from an interim site and our other full service branches during the two plus years of construction and are looking forward to a new 21st Century library and state-of-the-art Recreation Center when construction in completed in 2018.” The used bookstore, which had been located in the lower level of the Wheaton Library and operated for the Department of Public Libraries by the Friends of the Library, Montgomery County, Inc., will be relocated, during the construction period, to the former Silver Spring Library at 8901 Colesville Road in Silver Spring. A date for the opening of the bookstore in the new location has not yet been set. Residents and library customers should check the library’s website: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library for updates on the location and opening date of the interim facility and the used bookstore. # # # Release ID: 16-095 Media Contact: Judy Stiles 240-777-6507

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