Shaler North Hills Library updating restrooms, meeting ADA guidelines

Construction will be taking place at Shaler North Hills Library in the coming months.

According to library director Sharon McRae, the building’s two upstairs restrooms are being updated to meet American Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines and a family restroom will be added to the first floor of the building. McRae said that the two upstairs bathrooms haven’t been updated since they were installed in 1985 during the construction of a library addition.

“They are well-used and well-worn,” she said.

In the existing bathrooms, the stalls will be made bigger and handrails will be added. Along with striving to meet updated ADA guidelines, the plumbing and fixtures in the bathrooms will also be brought up to date.

The bathroom planned for the library’s first floor will be built into what is currently a storage room.

“(The storage room) has been there since the ’60s and it’s been used for offices before,” McRae said. “Currently, it’s used for storage and utilities. It’s already set with plumbing.”

She said that the space intended for the restroom branches off from a section of the library used for large print reading. She said that the space is used mostly by older adults or people with visual impairment.

“We already had this space made specifically for adults and older adults,” McRae said. “It made sense that there would be a bathroom downstairs in that area for adults to access.”

McRae said that a lot of patrons require aid when walking, and one of the most commonly asked questions is if the library has a bathroom downstairs. While the library offers an elevator for those who struggle with stairs, a downstairs restroom is more convenient.

“We’re excited to be able to say that yes, we do have that space to offer and yes, families can use the space,” McRae said. “What we’re even more excited about is to be able to put in an adult changing table.”

An adult changing table is large enough to fit adults who need assistance from a caretaker when going to the bathroom.

“There aren’t a lot of them around the area,” McRae said. “There are a lot of adults that have special needs who are being assisted on restroom floors. It’s hard to know that there are people who use mobility aids that can’t use the library because they don’t have that comfort level of having a place to use the restroom easily.”

McRae said that the lack of a first-floor bathroom and adult changing table has limited who in the community can use the library. She also believes that the adult changing table will be added to a list of ADA requirements within a few years.

“We’re really thrilled to be able to open up the library for those who would like to use it,” she said. “I’m thrilled for our community.”

No major changes will occur because of the restroom’s installation. McRae said the biggest thing to change would be new shelving for the large print section if it would even be necessary.

McRae said that the library has been in contact with RSS Architecture while planning the project, the same company that handled the building’s addition in 1985. She hopes to have bids out by May or June for work to begin in the fall.

The downstairs bathroom will be built first. Once it’s finished, work will be done on the two upstairs facilities so that no guest will have to go without a restroom. She said that ideally people will have access to all three bathrooms by the second quarter of 2025.

McRae said that a fundraising campaign called Bottoms Up was started in an effort to raise money to match the $149,452.50 Keystone Grant for Public Library Facilities that the Shaler North Hills Library received to complete the project.

Donations can be made at shalerlibrary.org, or guests can attend upcoming events hosted by the library, including a soup-making competition on March 3. Proceeds will go to the Bottoms Up campaign.