Hiawatha Public Library officials to announce expansion plans

HIAWATHA - Officials from the Hiawatha Public Library on Monday plan to announce details of a capital campaign to renovate and expand the library.

Details of the 'Make Room for Imagination” campaign will be made public during an event at 10:45 a.m. at the library, 150 W. Willman St.

'We are looking forward to announcing a really exciting project for Hiawatha,” said Library Director Jeaneal Weeks. 'We have not had a project of this scope in quite a long time and we haven't had a capital campaign in a long time.”

Hiawatha voters rejected a levy in 2013 that would have helped double the size of the existing library, which was built in 1998. Weeks was disappointed after that vote, but is excited to move forward with a new plan for expansion and renovation.

She declined to provide specific details of the project before Monday's event. In a news release, library officials said the announcement will highlight some major projects of the renovation and expansion, including designated spaces for children's programming, computer stations and community gatherings.

'We are especially excited about the prospect of being able to offer more services and being able to reach more people in our community,” Weeks said. 'We just don't have the facility that will let us keep up with what we need to be doing and our library is just so busy. We are not like any other library of our size in the state.”

Officials said the Hiawatha Public Library has the highest circulation per capita in Iowa and has outgrown its space, making it a challenge to offer services to the community.

'Libraries are split into sizes based on the population of the city,” Weeks explained. 'Hiawatha has around 7,000 people so we are an E-size library. Other E-size libraries in Iowa are in the same population range. Most of those cities are not two blocks from the border of a major city (though).”

Hiawatha's population has grown from 6,480 in 2000 to an estimated 7,212 last year, according to U.S. Census figures.

' ... Even though we are the Hiawatha library, our circulation does not just reflect Hiawatha, it reflects Cedar Rapids and everybody else we circulate to,” Weeks said. 'In terms of the service we do and the amount that we do, we are like a much larger library but the size of our library is at the very low end of libraries of our size.

'So we are out circulating everybody by miles in a little, tiny building with a small staff.”

The current library occupies 8,543 square feet of floor space.

Library officials believe the changes will positively impact those from Hiawatha, northeast Cedar Rapids, Robins and rural Linn County who make use of the library's resources.

The expansion plan has been in the works for years but the goal of the project has remained the same, Weeks said.

'It's truly about our service.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8538; elianna.novitch@thegazette.com

If You Go

What: 'Make Room for Imagination” campaign kickoff

When: 10:45 a.m. Monday

Where: Hiawatha Public Library, 150 W. Willman St.