The Marjorie Younce Snook Public Library’s doors have been open since late 2007, but Cindy Suggs, library director, said people still come in regularly and tell her they never knew Summerdale even had a library.

Even though the existence of the library may be news to some, Suggs also said the library has grown by leaps and bounds since its opening more than three years ago. Suggs estimates an average of 45 people visit the library daily and nearly 1,000 items are checked out each month.

According to Suggs, the library is still in its growing stages and she has big plans for the future of the little library on Broadway Street in Summerdale. When the library was built, the eastern wall was designed so it could be removed and the building could be expanded to the rest of the town’s adjoining property.

Suggs used to work for a library in Bibb County, which was much larger than Summerdale’s library.

 “This library is smaller than the one I worked at before, but we have been talking, and we actually have the plans for an addition, but we just don’t have the funding yet,” Suggs said.

Suggs and the town council have big plans for the library to keep on growing though.

“It has grown very much since it opened. When I first started this was just a big empty room. We ordered all the shelving and got that put together and then I just started ordering books. A lot of the older books were donations that people around the community donated. We have the whole sets of some authors, which is really good to get donations that way because a lot of times the books will be out of print. On a slow day we will have at least 30 people come in. We buy all the new releases and we are still adding to the collection, especially non-fiction and children’s reference,” Suggs said.

The library is usually packed in the afternoons when the children get out of school. Suggs said the library is a safe place for them to go to do their homework and have some fun as well.

“After school, the children, there are several that live right around this area, so they come in. It is a good thing to have the library here because they love it,” she said.

Story time is every Monday at 1 p.m. for preschool aged children and story time for school aged children is after school on Mondays from 3:30-5 p.m.

The Ben Carson book club for children meets every Friday from 3:30-5 p.m. The library also offers free one-on-one reading tutoring at the same time, but the tutoring is available anytime.

“We will really do that any time. Any time a child or a parent comes in and asks us to work with their child we will help them select a book that will interest them and then we will help them with their reading,” said Suggs.

The library offers a little bit of everything, including books for all ages, reference books, wireless internet access, DVDs to check out, audio books, magazines, newspapers and a computer room with five public access computers.

“We have over 10,000 volumes on the shelves now, we had to purchase two units of additional shelving a few months ago because we just ran out of room,” said Suggs.

To help fund the library fundraisers are held throughout the year, the library holds book sales a few times a year. The library is also currently selling a cookbook called the “Recipes and Remembrances” cookbook for $12.

“It has over 400 recipes gathered from the best cooks in Summerdale,” said Suggs. “They would make really nice mother’s day presents.”

The library is also funded by the town and grants.

“We are funded mostly through the town and the state, but we also apply for several grants each year and those help a lot,” said Suggs.

The library is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

For more information about the library or to check out the library’s catalog online go to www.summerdalelibrary.com or call 251-989-2011. Anyone interested in volunteering to help prepare the books for shelving, reshelving the books or helping with children’s programs should call the library.