Center Point’s library expands

CENTER POINT - The entire Andersen Center Point Public Library was checked out Monday to be returned in three weeks - quadruple in size.

The small northern Linn County city's library, at 720 Main St., was 5,000 square feet. But after nearly $2.8 million in private donations and grants, another 15,000 square foot addition was built for a total of 20,000 square feet.

All that is left now is the three-week process of prepping the new area and transferring 22,000 books and movies to the new space.

'There is a lot of work to be done in a very short time,” said Janine Walters, the library's director.

Fundraising for the project, however, didn't leave a lot of time to prepare. Most of the money needed for the expansion poured in from private donors.

'We initially were looking at three years of fundraising - and we ended up completing the building in three years. Things are moving quickly,” Walters said.

Construction started in 2013 and the expansion will add space for a library that sees more 5,000 people every month, Walters said.

The top floor has study rooms, a child's area and a fireplace. The basement will be a much-needed community center.

'We are really looking forward to November, and having a comfortable place to vote,” Walters said. Currently, the town casts ballots in a crammed City Hall.

'Every town needs cultural events, like music groups, art and craft shows. We will finally have a space for that.”

Walters said the previous building did not meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and caused the library to not earn accreditation from the State Library of Iowa. The new building, Walters said, would pass all ADA requirements and be able to again be considered for accreditation.

This summer, the old building will undergo a face-lift with new flooring, paint, ceiling tiles and lights, and will be turned into a connected lounge area for patrons to relax, talk and read.

'We have never been a ‘shush' kind of library, and we hate to be one,” Walters said. 'We never had places for people to even socialize, and now we will.”

Last week, the library allowed the public to come in and check out an unlimited amount of books and movies - to make for fewer items to haul, and to let the public stock up for the three-week closure.

'There were people that had 15 books or even more,” Walters added. 'We had one family that came in and they carried out six book bags full of books.”

Farther south, fast-growing Marion is considering a plan to about double the size of its library to 47,000-square feet. Under the proposal, a developer would build a mixed-use development including residential, retail and a new library space that the city would lease and eventually own.

Father south still, the Cedar Rapids Public Library reported being one of the busiest libraries in the state during fiscal year 2015.

It reported that at its downtown and westside locations, patrons logged on to computers more than 145,000 times and checked out more than 1.5 million items - such as books, movies and music - in that time period.

Nonetheless, Cedar Rapids voters last year turned down a special tax levy to help pay for the increased usage.

As part of its plan to cut more than $460,000 from the budget, the library reduced staff and started this week to reduce hours at both locations.