Library To Go West When Project Completed



A proposed new addition to the Adams Memorial Library will bring about a number of changes to the nearly 50-year-old facility, the Woodbury Board of Mayor and Alderman learned Tuesday night.

Austin Jennings, who is chairman of the Dr. and Mrs. J.F. Adams Memorial Library Association, gave the Board an update on the project during its monthly meeting.

One of the big changes the new addition will bring about is that the entrance will be switched from the east side of the Adams Memorial Library (facing College Street) to the west side, facing a paved and lighted parking lot.

Jennings said it is hoped the 3,000 square foot addition will be completed by the end of 2012, with construction beginning in April.

The library was built in 1965 to honor the memory of local physician, banker and businessman, Dr. J.F. Adams and wife, Laura Hudson Adams, who worked hard for many years to improve the lives of Cannon County’s people. Their friends and family contributed the majority of the funds for construction, with support from the community at large.

The need for expansion is due to increased usage. The number of people having library cards and the number of library items being circulated have more than doubled in the last three years.

More computers are needed. Better access for disabled people, more work space for the staff, improved plumbing and paved, lighted, off-street parking are also needed. The meeting room needs updating to accommodate large children’s programs and civic groups, and the children’s area needs renovations to incorporate technology and changing pattern of use.

Jennings said the library is $250,000 short of its goal for the project and will be holding additional fundraisers this year, including the annual Friends of the Adams Library Roast on the third Thursday in April.

On another matter, Jennings addressed the Board’s recent decision to locate a proposed new fire hall on Alexander Drive instead of the former Jennings Motors building on Tatum St.

Jennings, who said he did not have any financial or personal interest in the Jennings Motors building, stated that he had traveled the route from downtown to Alexander Drive and estimated that relocating the fire hall there would increase response time by five minutes and 45 seconds. He told the Board that, in his opinion, they picked the poorest of the two locations.

The only item on regular business on the Board’s agenda Tuesday was a Public Hearing on Ordinance No. 442, an ordinance to amend Title 9, Chapter 2, of the Woodbury Municipal Code relating to Business, Peddlers, Solicitors, etc. There were no comments during the hearing and afterward the Board unanimously approved a motion to pass the ordinance.