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County commissioners give green light to library renovations

Lead Summary
By
Mavis Fodness

The county’s library will officially undergo renovations after the Rock County Commissioners unanimously voted Aug. 18 to contribute $175,000 to the project.
In May commissioners finalized $1.225 million in tax increment financing for the county’s share in the fiber optic project and earmarked funds for projects listed on their capital improvement plan.
One of those projects was a library improvement project.
Serena Gutnik, who began as library director in June, explained the final design plans to commissioners.
“It’s truly going to be transformed,” she said. “Just brightening it up, I think it’s going to be amazing.”
Enlarging the staff workstations, relocating the children’s section closer to the front door and new shelving positioned in an east-west direction are among the library’s redesign to create a more functional and safe environment for patrons.
The library will be closed during the renovation period. An exact timeline has not been determined.
Current estimates put the total project costs between $200,000 and $250,000. Funds in the library’s reserve will be added to the county’s contribution to pay for the project.
Gutnik said staff is preparing for the renovation by “weeding” through current book selections for disposal since the new shelving system won’t hold as many books.
“We have a list of criteria we are going to use to weed and, if we do it now, that can go on the book sale as well to benefit that (Friends of the Library) fund,” she said.
 
In other business, commissioners:
•Approved $4,926.19 to Midwest Technology Services, Graettinger, Iowa, for a new phone system for the library. The monies will be taken from library reserves.
•Accepted the low bid of $76,305 from the Scale Center, Sioux Falls, for a new 70-by-11-foot scale at the transfer station.

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