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Harrisburg library begins long process of getting new facility

Posted October 11, 2016 11:00 pm

Renee Trappe

The Harrisburg District Library board is making preliminary plans for a new, larger public library - but exactly when it might be built is unclear since the board is adamant it will not ask the public for higher taxes to pay for it.

On Tuesday, the library board looked over drawings from architect John Baker, for a new, one-story building that the board would like to erect on the same land at Main and Walnut where the library is now.

But the plans, like the concept itself, are preliminary, said board members.

The library has been talking about a larger facility for six or seven years, said member Sally Wofford.

Library Director Krystal Gulley said the library is too small to adequately shelve all the books, offer the community enough meeting space and computers, and give students soundproof areas to study and work on projects.

"We're here to serve the community, but we're running out of space and technology to do it," said board secretary Joe Ewing.

That the library board has been thinking about finding or building a larger facility is no secret - in the past few years the board has put out two community surveys and held a discussion with Harrisburg community leaders.

Now, members say, the plan is to work with Baker to come up with an acceptable design for a new library, which the board will then share with the Harrisburg public and ask residents to talk about what they like and don't like about it.

Eventually, once a final design is in place and the costs determined, the search for funds will begin in earnest. A new library could cost several million dollars, and the board will apply for grants, fundraise and hope the state of Illinois can contribute.

Asking the public for more tax money is out of the question, said board Vice President Janet Jones - and other board members agreed.

Ewing said the new library would essentially be built around the current library - meaning the library would never have to close or relocate during construction. Once the new library is up, the current library would be demolished, he explained.

Ewing added the board has looked at other vacant property around Harrisburg, but was discouraged because the properties were either in the flood plain or had asbestos problems.

The current library, a former bank building, was occupied in 2000. From 1909 to 2000 Harrisburg's library was on Church Street, built with a grant from Andrew Carnegie. The present library is above the flood plain, Ewing said.

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