The Valparaiso City Council held a special meeting Tuesday evening to discuss plans to expand the city’s public library into the old City Council chambers.
Library Director Hope Willis said the current library space does not meet today’s needs, and gave a presentation to the council showing the facility’s issues, including limited walkways and space, crowded book stacks, computer cords and other tripping hazards.
“Here is the plan: The former commissioner room becomes a larger multi-purpose room, giving us dedicated space for larger programs while remaining flexible for appropriate city and community uses,” Willis said. “The additional space then allows us to recognize the existing library, our collection, study areas, storage and other spaces, so the entire building functions better.”
The library received $125,000 in state funding for the expansion to address Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and library capacity.
“Our current configuration is cramped, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t … simplifying by just taking a look at it,” Willis said. “I did measure in between [walkways and tables/chairs] … and none of these are 36 inches [wide]. And this was with the chairs pushed in. ADA compliance does ask you to sit in a seat and naturally scoot back as you naturally would and measure that, and some of them were 23 inches.”
Willis’ proposed expansion would add over 5,300 additional sq ft to the library.
“Accessibility has to be part of how we redesign the space, not something we try to work around afterward,” she said. “… [People are] using the library for their educational resources, and we simply need the extra space for them. These aren’t services we hope we might use someday. These are things that we’re already being asked for, things that are already a need.”
Community members came forward to express their support for the library expansion and urge commissioners to approve the proposal.
Former Valparaiso Mayor Brent Smith pledged to donate $500 for the library expansion project should it be approved.
“We have senior citizens that come here and use our computers because they can’t afford computers themselves,” Smith said. “We have people that bring their children here because they can’t have the space in their homes to grow them and experience what they need to know at their young age. I’m putting it on the burden of the commission board tonight to approve the expansion of this library, and I will personally write the first $500 check.”
Former Children’s Program Director Elizabeth Whelan spoke about her time working at the Valparaiso Community Library, and said an expansion is long overdue.
“I loved that library so much I wanted to work there, so I did,” Whelan said. “And straight off the bat, they’re out of space. They were out of space 10 years ago; they’re still out of space. … I would put on these elaborate science, interactive, STEM-based, whole-room programs, but I stored most of it at my house because there was no space in the library for it. So every month I’d schlepp it all in, I’d set it all up, I’d break it all down, and I’d bring it home.”
Other community members brought forth concerns about the necessity of more library space.
Valparaiso resident Sonya Hart said she visited the library earlier this week to form an opinion.
“There are so many books, and then there’s probably almost twice as many movies,” Hart said. “Is this a library, or is this one of those old video stores? Not really sure. … They need more room for art. They need more room for music. They need more room for reading time. Those are things that are already being provided in the space they have. So why do you need more room if you’re already providing those services? And I, as a taxpaying citizen of the City of Valparaiso, sincerely hope that y’all decide not to go forward with expanding the library.”
Willis countered this claim.
“Libraries are books and beyond, as I like to call it,” she said. “We are no longer just books. I hate to say those words, but that’s true. Libraries have always been the knack to give what the community needs. The community needs books. They need resources. They need educational resources that we have, but they also need movies. It is a demand. Most of those movies have been donated by you all.”
The City Commission decided to move forward with the library expansion plan, as long as City Building Official Carl Scott receives the proposal and prepares cost estimates for the next City Commission meeting.
“The scope of the project’s not that big,” Scott said. “And do I think they have plenty of money to get it done? Yes, I do. … There was never any question that the library was going to continue to exist, and there was never any question that we were going to be able to do things with the spaces, but everybody needs to be cognizant of the fact that we may have budgetary constraints in the future that, you know, just cause us to reel in, so we don’t want to destroy the availability of what we can do for the building in the future.”
The Valparaiso Commission’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 14 at 6 p.m.
