LEWISBURG — The building expansion project at The Public Library for Union County continues as officials there work to raise money to match dollar-for-dollar a combined $850,000 in grant funds received for the new addition.
The total project cost is $1.75 million. Donors pledged an estimated $300,000 toward the project so far, including members of the library board, according to both Roberta Greene, library director, and Don Adams, library board president.
“We’re thankful that those donors stepped up so early in this campaign,” Adams said.
The library received a $750,000 competitive grant from the Keystone Recreation, Parks and Conservation Fund and another $100,000 from the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation — roughly half the project cost. Both grants require a dollar-for-dollar match, representing the remainder of the project cost.
Greene said each grant closes out in March, meaning the money must be raised before the respective close-out dates. Library officials are working through the “quiet phase” of fundraising which began earlier this month, approaching specific donors for individual contributions. Greene expects that to last into November before beginning a public portion of the campaign.
Greene and Adams agreed the library was fortunate to receive the grant awards and that the timing was right to move forward on construction. Because of the pandemic, it’s unknown if such funds would be available in the immediate future.
Should the library fall short of its $900,000 fundraising goal — creating a $50,000 cushion for unforeseen costs — it would have to repay each unused dollar to the respective organizations that provided the grants.
“This is a tough environment to be raising money in. There are a lot of people struggling individually, there are businesses that are struggling,” Greene said. “We understand that and because of it, we’re giving a fairly broad opportunity to make a pledge. It could be three to five years. We can be flexible there. We’re hoping that in a year, the economy in general will right itself.”
The Public Library is located at 255 Reitz Blvd. in the Brookpark Farm development.
Skilled tradesmen completed the foundation and are preparing to pour the concrete floor of the 1,150-square-foot addition on the library’s south end. After that comes the structural steel and then framing, according to James Fulcher, a superintendent with Hepco Construction, the general contractor.
“Shortly, they’re going to see it start going up,” Fulcher said of people passing by the job site.
It will be a few months before the addition is under roof, Fulcher said. April is the targeted month of completion for the entire project, he added.
The building addition will be home to a new children’s wing, with a quiet space for adults flip-flopping to the north end of the library. Periodicals and visual materials will swap sides, too. A drop-in laptop bar will be added closer to the main entrance for the library’s uptick of users visiting to use wi-fi and quiet areas for work.
Adam noted a 35% increase in use of the children’s section by kids and their parents. Often, community groups are jockeying for use of two existing community rooms at the library, Greene added. The addition will create a dedicated space for children’s programming and free up more opportunities for other uses of existing space at the library.
“We are the education destination for preschoolers and their parents because not everybody can afford or find a preschool spot,” Greene said.
A rain garden outside the addition was approved as part of a stormwater management plan to help with run-off. The garden will consist of native shrubs, perennials and flowers planted along a slope to hold and soak in rainwater runoff from the roof and lawn. Greene and Adams said it presents an additional opportunity for educational initiatives.
“A vision of the library isn’t just to have the inside as an instructional space but the whole property becomes an instructional space for the community,” Adams said.
The Public Library for Union County is open for pick-up of reserved materials and drop-off. On Oct. 1, The Public Library along with libraries in Mifflinburg and Laurelton reopen for public browsing for the first time since the pandemic forced their initial closure in March. There are new guidelines for browsing, both because of the pandemic and the construction project. For more information, visit www.unioncountylibraries.org.
