The New Milford Town Council appropriated $20,000 from the Waste Management Settlement Fund for a modernization feasibility study for the library.
“We’re homing to modernize the 1976 addition,” said Joann Lillis, president of the library Board of Trustees. “It would be most efficient to tear down the present addition and put a new structure right there.”
The L-shaped addition from 1976 has no basement so a second story cannot be added. Still, the library board feels an obligation to “bring the library forward, meeting technological and other needs,” Lillis said.
Despite attempts in 1995 and 2006 to secure funding for expansion, the library remains at 18k-sq-ft of space through three buildings.
The appropriation came an hour after three Town Council members toured the library. They saw overcrowded and cramped children and youth sections. Teens must search stacks in the hallway to the bathrooms to find young adult material.
They also heard from library director Carl DeMilia that more space is needed for gathering and study by patrons, especially students who come in groups or one-on-one with teachers.