Information comes after new study
By Dave Fidlin
SLN CORRESPONDENT
The Irvin L. Young Memorial Library needs more space than previously thought.
This was one of several big-picture messages Library Director Stacey Lunsford shared as she presented a freshened space needs analysis at a Common Council meeting Dec. 5.
Lunsford combed through a nearly 60-page report, which Normal, Ill.-based consultants Library Planning Associates compiled as it examined existing operations and compared them to future needs earlier this year.
LPA representatives were tasked with updating a 5-year-old report on the library’s space needs.
In a summary of the consultants’ findings, Lunsford said the amount of square footage needed at Irvin L. Young Memorial Library to meet patrons’ current needs totaled 30,551 square feet, up 582 square feet from the 2012 projections of 29,969 square feet.
Regardless of the figures, Lunsford and other library officials are quick to point out the numbers reveal a continued, ongoing need for more space at the library.
With a gross area of 14,900 square feet, the library’s current configuration encompasses a fraction of the consultants’ recommendations in both reports.
For more on the topic, pick up a copy of the Dec. 14 edition of the Whitewater Register.
