HN Public Library expanding to make room for programs

By TIM THOMAS

Times editor

DUNKIRK — The Hardin Northern Public Library in Dunkirk is expanding to better serve its patrons.

A 28-by-50-foot addition is being built beside the library at the corner of Main and Wayne streets and is expected to be completed this summer. Helms and Sons of Findlay is the contractor for the $474,400 project.

Library Director Becky Coker said the board agreed to the new building because the library was running out of options to offer its programming.

Summer programs, such as the Exotic Zoo, drew such large crowds that it outgrew the existing library space. They moved programs to the Dunkirk Park, but the weather could always be a factor. For years they used the Masonic Temple as a backup facility, but news that the building was going to be demolished forced the library board to consider the expansion project, Coker said.

She said they wanted a building with room to offer existing programs and new ones and so the decision was made to expand.

Fiscal Officer Jodie Ribley said the library board had been putting back $30,000 annually in a library improvement account. Through Brennon Hattery, treasurer with Hardin Northern School, they learned about Stifel Public Finance which allowed them to finance the addition through $420,000 in public library notes to cover the loan, she said.

Helms bid $474,400 on the project and was awarded the bid. “They been very good to work with,” Coker said.

Board President Jon Barnett praised the efforts of Coker and Ribley. “They’ve been gems through the building project.”

Coker extended appreciation to Barnett and board Vice President Bill Wagner whose building knowledge “has been a blessing” as Helms has constructed the project.

She also noted other board members Terry Cramer, Darlene Wilson, Andy Diller, Donna Price and Nathan Ruhlen have been helpful and available when decisions needed to be made about the project.

Except for rooms for storage and heating and cooling equipment, and a bathroom, the building will be totally open for programs, Coker said. It will be connected to the existing library.

The project allows access to the library from the less traveled side street, Wayne Street. The paved lot in front of the main building will be reserved for those with handicaps. The lot in front of the addition will be gravel covered for additional parking.

In addition, the existing building will get a new roof to match that of the new facility at a cost of $18,000.

Coker hopes the new facility will draw kids back into the library, first for a program and then to make it to the book shelves to check out some reading material.

In addition to the summer reading program coming up toward the end of May, there are movie nights for kids and adults. Coker noted there already are adult programs such a book club and Chick Flick Movie Night.

Coker hopes they can create more programs such as speakers for educational programs.

“This gives us flexibility on what we could offer,” she said of the new structure, something few could imagine when the Dunkirk Public Library was formed Nov. 2, 1938 and housed at the Dunkirk school until 1957. In 1958 the name was changed to the Hardin Northern Public Library and it was moved to the school. The library moved to the Masonic Temple in February of 1976, and then to a storefront at Ream’s General Store, before buying an existing building for its current home in 2003.

Coker, who will start her 48th year in July as library director, said of the expansion, “It was always my dream but I’m not sure it would come into fruition.”

Now she is hoping the library addition will be a showplace for the town.

“We’ve had a lot of good community support,” she said. “They’re happy for us.”