The new Hyattsville library will be finished by the end of the year, after construction delays related to the coronavirus pandemic.

But it will be worth the wait.

The Hyattsville Wire took an exclusive private tour of the library this week with Michael Gannon, chief operating officer for support services for the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System.

The library will have several family-friendly amenities, including a family restroom, a private “comfort room” for mothers who are breastfeeding and a fairy tale-themed children’s area featuring a suit of armor and a castle with a moat and drawbridge.

The kids’ area also features a yellow brick road and a large apple tree modeled after “The Wizard of Oz,” houses that are reading nooks inspired by the Three Little Pigs and private englassed rooms where children can meet with tutors and study.

The outdoor terrace will have planters with trees and other greenery, tables and umbrellas as well as a hands-on environmental station that teaches kids about stormwater.

Another area aimed at teen-agers has a floor-to-ceiling whiteboard, dedicated computers and a game room.

The library will have a cafe with tables, chairs and vending machines, and several fireplaces throughout.

One of the fireplaces is in a revamped Prince George’s Room, which will focus on local history and genealogy. It replaces a broader-themed Maryland Room from the old library, and librarians are curating that material right now to just the local material.

That room will also have a carpet and other interior design touches to give it more of an old-fashioned feel.

There will be several meeting rooms which anyone can reserve, a special art room for kids and adults which will have butcher block tables and study rooms that can be used by up to four people.

The library also has some high-tech features, including solar panels on the roof that will generate part of the building’s power along with a digital sign inside the library showing how much energy is being generated each day.

Every seat and table in the building will have USB outlets and standard plugs for charging electronics.

The library will also have a learning lab with computers for public use as well as a 3-D printer. There’s also a hardware station featuring a scanner, black and white and color printers and a fax machine. The first 10 pages will be free to print.

All signs will be in English and Spanish, and there will even be a passport center.

The library’s high-speed wifi will be available indoors and outdoors 24 hours a day, unlike some libraries which shut off their systems at night.

In addition, the building has a massive Kohler backup generator that can power the entire building, including wifi, air conditioning and heating, allowing the library to be used an emergency location in the event of a natural disaster, although it will not be usable as an overnight shelter.

The building will also have the first parking garage for a county library, with 105 spaces and underground and above-ground charging stations for electric cars.

The dedication plaque, bricks and foundation from the old library will be on display, along with a new plaque that will be installed during the dedication later this year.

For the near future due to the ongoing pandemic, when it opens the library will feature sanitizing stations and and enact social distancing measures, such as not having every computer station in use.

Two local artists were chosen to create public art displays at the library.

Mount Rainier’s Valerie Theberge, who created the fish mural at the Melrose Skate Park and the oven at Pizzeria Paradiso, was selected to do a mosaic tiled art mural on the floor of the renovated flying saucer, while Curtis Woody, an Upper Marlboro artist who works in mixed media, was chosen to create a mural at the entrance inside.

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