Plan for Library Expansion Unveiled

A plan to expand the city’s main library has been unveiled, and city officials will decide next month whether to proceed with the $1.6-million project.

The centerpiece of the proposal is an expansion of the children’s section, which is inadequate, library officials said. The plan was drafted by Kroh/Broeske Architects of Riverside, which conducted a six-month study of the 50,000-square-foot library on Commonwealth Avenue.

The children’s section now takes up 540 square feet of space. The plan calls for an 82% increase. Kroh/Broeske proposes enclosing the library’s existing outdoor patio and taking over its adjacent meeting room.

Library Director Albert J. Milo said the children’s section usually is filled to capacity. In fact, he said, more children use the library than adults.

“The demand for children’s services is pretty high,” Milo said. “At least 50% of all the children’s books are checked out all the time.”

Librarians said children often have to wait in long lines to check out books, and many volumes cannot be displayed because there is no shelf space for them.

The City Council will consider the plan at a meeting Aug. 5. Should the proposal win approval then, Milo said, architects would be hired to design the expansion project, and the city would work with the Library Foundation to seek funding for the construction, which could start as early as 1998.