The Altoona Public library reopened its doors on Aug. 9. Last year, flooding forced the Altoona Public to close in order to repair damages. 

Students and anyone else who is interested in visiting the library are encouraged to come to visit once again. 

“We have been open since Aug. 9. and we started having students coming in at that point. People were coming in of all ages, so we noticed teenagers starting to come in even then,” library director Jennifer Knisely said. 

Even with the library being closed last year, the library  was still able to order new books.

“We never stopped ordering materials,” Knisely said. “We spent about $100,000 a year or so on materials that can be checked out to the public and we never stopped.” 

Students not only use the library to get books, but  this gives students a place to  meet up with their friends.

“I would say when the students are coming in after school, it’s for sort of a social time with friends or to catch up on homework while they’re waiting for a ride,” Knisely said. 

Students use the Altoona library after school to help them with homework and students can come to the library’s after-school programs. 

“We do have some programs going on after school for teenage students 13 to 18 year-olds, so sometimes they’re coming in for programs as well,” Knisely said.

Students who don’t have access to a computer or internet at home can come to the library to use a computer or the wifi. 

“We see some of them in here either on our computers, or they have their own Chromebook. And then they’re connecting into the Wi-Fi,” Knisely said. 

There are even students who come to the library for community service and school to career. 

“I usually check to see if any books need to be put away. And then I work on checking out series books and making sure that they have the correct stickers on them so that when people are checking them out, they don’t pick out the wrong books,” senior Lucas Muffie said