The roof, which he indicated “had a lot of leaks,” was replaced in this spring at a cost of $120,000.
That was one of two major repairs.
“The HVAC was frequently needing repairs,” so the boiler and the chiller were replaced at a cost of $150,000, Henderson added
That work was self-funded. The library is back to 1996 funding levels after a 24-percent reduction in state funding since 2008 and lost some property tax revenue with the redefinition of service boundaries with the St. Paris Library. But by tightening its spending before the changes, Henderson said the Champaign County Library was able to make money available for the projects.
“The Board (of Trustees) did a really great job, I think, of being fiscally conservative to beef up that Building and Repair Fund,” he added.
“We just started looking into the interior remodeling,” Henderson continued. “The carpet has held up fairly well, but the high-traffic areas needed an update, and we decided at the same time to do some touch-up on the paint and replace the water-damaged ceiling tiles.”
Future plans also call for rearranging some shelving units to increase the large print collection and adding more displays, Henderson pointed out.
“We will have some better shelving layouts,” he said. “I think, overall, it will be a better library experience for people.”
Henderson said they are also seeing an increase in circulation and foot traffic at the library.
“We’ve been seeing a huge increase in digital access (to materials),” he said. “We’ve got a number of programs for e-books, videos, music and audio books. We’re offering things digitally as well as in print.”
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