A library foundation in Orono needs $2.5 million from the town to fund a project that would double the size of its public library and aim to better cater to the needs of the community.
The Orono Public Library Foundation is leading the expansion, which would include a large community room for events during the day and after hours, an area reserved for teenagers and more private workspace for library staff, among other features.
The project, which would enlarge the library to 13,750 square feet from its current 6,500 square feet, is estimated to cost about $7 million, James Jackson Sanborn, the foundation’s president, told Orono town councilors Monday night.
The foundation formed in 2002 and planned to open a 12,000-square-foot library, but there was only enough funding for a building half that size, Library Director Laurie Carpenter said earlier this year. The free-standing library opened in 2009 after previously being located inside the high school.
An expansion is long overdue for a community of Orono’s size, and the last three years have been spent making plans, from site visits to developing designs, Jackson Sanborn told the council. Six councilors present Monday and a group of residents voiced their support for the project, despite it being a significant ask for taxpayers.
A list of other capital improvements, estimated to cost about $16 million, are also on the table in Orono. They include a Route 2 infrastructure project and public safety building renovations, among others.
Resident Paul Smith urged the council to commit to funding a portion of the expansion, and he even calculated what difference it would make in his property tax bill. “For the library I love, I’ll pay,” he said.
“Anytime I go in there, I find someone interesting to talk to or a group of people,” he said. “It’s a crossroad for people of all age groups, ethnicities, identities, information interests, income and education levels.”
Earlier this year, a U.S. Senate committee passed more than $4.5 million in federal funding for Maine libraries, including $3.6 million for the Orono Public Library. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the appropriations committee, and Angus King championed the cause, which is now awaiting approval from the House of Representatives and Senate.
Securing $3.6 million in congressionally directed spending and $2.5 million from the town would leave the volunteer-run foundation to raise roughly $1 million through a capital campaign, Jackson Sanborn said. The exact amount needed will become clearer when the campaign kicks off in early 2024.
In recent years, the foundation raised $150,000 to lay the groundwork for the library expansion, including funding the designs, Jackson Sanborn said. A portion of that funding remains for the larger project, and the foundation has hired a fundraising consultant to help with the capital campaign.
Jackson Sanborn is most looking forward to the 1,800-square-foot community room, where people can gather for events and programming. The current space is too small, and programs hosting between 20 and 30 people typically move to another venue. The new space could be divided into two spaces if necessary.
The concept design also proposes a new children’s reading room and expanded space for programming, quiet reading areas for patrons and a private tutoring room, among other features.
Of the slate of capital infrastructure projects on the table, some are all or nothing, while others can be shaped in different ways, Council Chairperson Geoff Wingard said. But the library expansion is a generational project that adds value to the community, he said.
Resident Pip Hansen moved to Orono in 2016 when her husband took a job at the University of Maine, and she didn’t know anyone in town. She had to navigate a new place and new people while also caring for a newborn.
But Hansen spent four to five days a week at the library, and it is where she formed friendships and began to feel part of the community, she said. If she had not had the library to lean on, her family would have gone back to New Zealand, she told councilors.
“In all honesty, the library saved my life,” she said.
The council agreed to schedule a public hearing and vote to pledge $2.5 million toward the project.