MCLS Adds Mall Location

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The Muskingum County Library System is always looking for ways to more conveniently serve the public.

MCLS Outreach Services Manager Joshua McPeek talked about a new library location inside the Colony Square Mall that aims to better serve the north end of town and introduce a different segment of the public to what MCLS has to offer.

“We’ve found that looking at service holes in our community and different areas that can use our presence more and found that the north end was one of those areas. Whether it’s getting to the John McIntire or the Dresden, our Dresden branch library, those are both just far enough away that we kind of isolated a lot of the people that live out here. So we wanted them to have an easy option in order to get access to our least, most basic services,” McPeek said.

The new location was added in part to the upcoming renovation and construction work that is scheduled at the John McIntire location. Their goal is to continue providing service to the public as seamlessly as possible, as well as creating new opportunities for additional public events. 

“The mall seemed like the perfect place, cause there’s already many people coming here,” McPeek said. “It’s easy to say ‘we’re at the mall,’ people know where it’s at, it’s been here since 1981. And then on top of that, being right here in the food court is even easier to explain. We’re at the mall in the food court, people instantly know where to come and find us. And that was very important when setting up the new location. The last thing you want is anybody to go, ‘I couldn’t find it, I didn’t see it, where’s it at.’ So we really wanted to make sure it was present right out there and easy to get to.”

The mall location is open on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and has items for checkout, along with a bin for return items.