Library nets hefty state grant for expansion

Library still needs $150k to match; well on its way

By Felicia A. Petro

Allied News Staff Writer



Linda Bennett walked into the Grove City Library to a surprise retirement party on Jan. 10; however, a secret was revealed that astonished everyone.

“I’m so happy,” she said, excitedly.

Jim Hughes, library board president, gave a little speech at the party about Bennett, who’s seen the library through ups and downs as its long-time director.

This was definitely an “up” moment, though.

Hughes began reading a letter from the Commonwealth of Libraries for Bennett, which she thought “was going to be a thank-you” for her service, she said.

But the letter, dated Jan. 7, stated that the state office had approved the library and Grove City Borough’s joint request for over $426,000 in grant money from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund to expand the library.

The office also threw in an unprecedented extra 15 percent above the amount, or nearly $64,000, which could bring the grand total to almost $490,000.

“With the state budget the way it is, we’re fortunate to see any funding at all. We’re totally surprised to get the 15 percent,” said Vance Oakes, borough manager.

Oakes wrote the grant in the borough’s name, with Bennett’s help. The library will now have to come up with a match up to the amount the state has approved to get the grant money.

“We worked very hard to provide every piece of documentation they asked,” Oakes said. “Perhaps they were impressed with the effort brought forth and the community support of a library.”

That was evident, as Bennett and her guests at the party were “screaming” upon hearing the news, she said.

“It was like the icing on the cake, like I accomplished everything I wanted” in her work at the library, she said. “It’s really a blessing.”

The voluminous Keystone application was started in October 2008 and had to be submitted by the end of June of 2009, she said.

The borough has been supportive. “There are council members with young families and they are definitely in favor of it,” Bennett said. “They use the library.”

The application required many things: consultant, engineer, architect, to name a few. “We had to have all our ducks in a row,” she said.

Bennett is staying on the project’s fundraising committee. However, Jessica Hermiller, who took Bennett’s place this month, will lead the library expansion to the next phase.

“We’re so excited and there’s so much paperwork,” Hermiller said.

The library needs about $150,000 more to match the full award from the state, including the 15 percent, she noted. “Any additional community support is more than appreciated.”

The library already had seed money for the project; a very large seed.

In the mid-1980s, the library moved from a storefront on South Broad Street – where Blue Ribbon Tavern now resides – to its current home on the corner of East Main and South Center streets in a new building. It’s housed on the lower level of the Grove City Borough Building.

A professional fund raiser was hired for the building project, which reaped more funds than needed, Bennett said.

The library paid $150,000 to the borough for its share of the building and the remaining amount was set up in an endowment fund, she added.

Although the fund was “dipped into” a couple of times for some minor upgrades and payroll, about $210,000 had grown from years of investing the endowment, Bennett said.

In the past year, the library raised the additional $130,000 after it sent out letters asking for patrons to support the current project, she stated.

Bennett was inspired to do the drive after the library’s 50th anniversary party in March of 2008, which drew nearly 100 guests.

“People were telling me, ‘You need more space.’ That got me thinking, ‘If there’s this much support, I think we can do it,’” she said.

“These are people that have money, and I respect their opinion. I thought they must love this library and want to keep it going. I think it was a turning point.”

A few large donations included $15,000 from Grove City College; and $3,000 from the Grove City Rotary Club.

Several $1,000 donations were made by groups and individuals. Donors promised to give more once the grant money came in, Bennett added.

“We have a lot of good supporters at the library. I knew it would come through,” she said.

“But I didn’t know if the state would come through with the grant.”

“It’s overwhelming and encouraging,” Hermiller stated. “The library is well loved and it’s very touching.”

The project was estimated at more than $850,000 to fund a 2,657-square-foot addition. That will give the library enough space to add a meeting room for programs, “which really drives the library here,” Hermiller noted.

Right now, programs are held in the middle of the main floor, “with the exception of story time in the conference room upstairs,” she added.

More shelves are needed for all the sections of library, including adult, children and young adult. The periodical and magazine sections are separated due to lack of space.

“It would be nice to have reading all in one place,” Hermiller said.

The library also needs more computers for its lab, with additional electrical outlets, Bennett added.

For the grant, “I took pictures of how people were plugging computers around their legs and all these cords running around,” she said, laughing.

The library would like a quieter area for the lab, since it’s “heavily used,” Hermiller noted. “But nothing is set in stone at this point. (The grant) is all still very new to us.”

Since three-fourths of the library is buried underground, the open entryway – which is often accessed from College Avenue – is the only place to expand.

The entrance is surrounded by borough parking, except for a grassy area that will be eaten up for the addition. “The lawn will be gone,” Bennett said.

The addition is more than a third of the space the library already has, which is currently 6,625 square feet.

If it can raise enough money for the additional 15 percent, the library will be able to make space for an outdoor sitting area with benches and plantings near the entrance, Oakes said.

The space will jut out into the parking lot. It will require the use of two parking spaces nearest the entrance of the library, although one space may possibly be restored elsewhere in the lot, Oakes stated.

If that plan falls through, “We’re trying to figure out some plantings in the front,” Bennett said. “Something will work, even if it’s window boxes or hangings, so there will be some color and green.”

The extra money could also fund the inside shelving, and new furniture that the library would have bought through more fundraising, Oakes added.

Although there’s still some more hurdles to jump for the grant process – in addition to raising more money – the library hopes to start construction by spring or summer, Bennett said.

Donations are coming in all sizes.

Besides the letter drive, patrons can drop some change in a jar at the library. The library is also selling candy bars from Daffins to raise money, Hermiller noted.

The 24-year-old made a big jump in her career at the local library, beginning as a part-time clerk in August. Before Grove City, she worked as a library director in Foxburg, however.

Her husband, Aaron, is a social worker at George Junior Republic. Bennett’s husband, Bruce, recently retired from GJR.

Ironically, as the library project is being born, Hermiller is also expecting her first child in May.

“I’m just settling in, but it’s very fun,” she said. “There’s always a change, but it’s very exciting.”

The change for Bennett from librarian to retiree has been “great,” she stated.

“It’s nice to get up in morning and take it slower, like (Wednesday), I didn’t have to go anywhere,” she said.

That changed on Thursday, however, Bennett added.

“There’s lots to do in Grove City.”



Published January 20, 2010 in Allied News. Pick up a copy at 201A Erie St., Grove City.

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