Ebooks, Netflix, and Library Building Projects (Part 61: Lester Library of Rome)

Rome eyes library expansion. (Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, 6/19/2011)

Excerpt: Besides Rome residents, people from Big Flats, Leola, Hancock and Saratoga utilize the library, Osgood said. It's 17 miles north to the McMillan Memorial Library in Wisconsin Rapids and 17 miles south of the library in the city of Adams, Osgood said. Many people find the Rome library's central location a more convenient trip.

According to fire codes, the building can hold 30 people, Ponshock said. During the summer months, the facility consistently reaches its maximum capacity. The library has 3,300 cardholders, and an average of 50 children attend the summer reading programs each week.

According to the South Central Library System, the Rome Library should have 12,000 square feet to properly serve the community, Osgood said. The Library Board of Trustees thought that was too much, so it decided to cut the proposed size in half and consider a 6,000-square-foot addition. The current library is 2,500 square feet.

The proposed expansion would include a program room and conference room that can be blocked off from the rest of the library for community functions outside of library hours, Ponshock said. The program room would hold 65 to 80 people, more than twice as many as the entire current library.