The past few months have been busy for South Routt Library District Manager Debbie Curtis, but it’s also an exciting time as the library moves to a new location in Oak Creek.

“We have about 9,500 items in this library, including DVDs, audiobooks and physical books,” Curtis said. “We have a total of eight computers that are being moved, and we are busy, busy.”

The library district board purchased the former Let’s Dance building at 117 E. Main St. in early July, and now five months later, the actual move is happening. The library’s current location at 227 Dodge St. will be closed Dec. 13 through at least Dec. 26.

“I’m very excited,” Curtis said. “People keep asking us when we are going to be in there, and it’s nice that we are almost there.”

The library plans to use the first floor of the building while continuing to lease the offices upstairs to help cover some of the library’s operating costs. She said the move was necessary because the library had outgrown the space it has leased for years.

“When we are closed during those two weeks, people can go to Yampa to check out books there and return books there,” Curtis said. “We’re going to keep our drop box at 227 Dodge St., and we’ll be checking it every day for people who return things.”

The Yampa Public Library is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.

If all goes well, Curtis is hoping the Oak Creek Public Library will be in its new home shortly after Santa puts presents under the Christmas tree on Dec. 25.

Several community organizations, including the Soroco High School National Honor Society, Eagles Watchers, High Country Homeschoolers and South Routt Friends of the Libraries, as well as a couple of patrons of the library, have already helped with the move, and Curtis already has 22 volunteers signed up to pack boxes from Dec. 11-12.

More volunteers are needed to help unpack boxes and put books on the shelves. Anyone interested in helping can call 970-736-8371.

The exact dates for the unpacking will depend on a company out of Denver that will take apart the shelves used at the current location and put them back together at the new library.

“It’s a special company coming up from Denver to move the shelves,” Curtis said. “There are so many parts and pieces to library shelving. It’s a two-day process with two men, and they’re going to load all the shelves up and install them in the new location.”

Conroy Moving & Storage will load and move the boxes starting Dec. 14, and Curtis hopes the shelves can be moved by Dec. 17.

South Routt Library Board Vice President Janet Panebaker believes the library’s new location will enhance its programming.

“We’re really excited about new programs at the new library and the huge difference in visibility being right on Main Street,” Panebaker said. “We are so relieved and excited to be in the new location.

“We have a monthly program series — the last one was astronomy, and we’ve got a dance program coming up — so this new location will give us a chance to kind of show off some of the things we’re doing with our library,” she added.

John F. Russell is the business reporter at the Steamboat Pilot & Today. To reach him, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.