Library to serve Greater Lafayette,
Ivy Tech
By Kelly Kingen
Summer
Reporter
The Tippecanoe County Public Library hopes to raise
$2 million to help stock the shelves of their new joint-library and establish
an endowment for its future.
Joel Robinson, county librarian, said the new 35,500-square-foot
library will be located on the Ivy Tech State College campus on U.S. 52
South and will serve both the Greater Lafayette Community as well as Ivy
Tech State College.
Amy Paget, foundation librarian, said, "The community
is really excited about it (the library). This is the first of its kind
in Indiana; in that it serves the college and the community in one facility."
The new library will be stocked with a popular collection
of books as well as academic resources, electronic facilities and computer
labs, Paget said.
Robinson said there is a strong need for this new
library. He said when the Tippecanoe County Public Library was built back
in 1989, the original plan was to build a larger library, but because
residents protested about the high tax rate it would cause the library
was made smaller.
As the number of people who used the library's facilities
increased over the years, the building has become overcrowded and inconvenient
for many residents, Robinson said.
"Our building is bursting out its seams. There are
days when we can't get in and out of this building. There are over 90,000
residents that have library cards and we loaned 1.2 million items last
year," said Paget.
Robinson said the public response has been overwhelmingly
positive and the Branching Out With Books campaign has raised close to
$400,000 in just two months, which is nearly one-fourth of the way toward
achieving its $2 million goal.
Contributors to the foundation's campaign include
$180,000 from a Lilly Endowment Grant through the Greater Lafayette Community
Foundation; $50,000 from the Friends of the Library; $40,000 from members
of the board of directors of the library, the friends and the foundation;
more than $12,000 from the library's staff; $50,000 from North Central
Health Services; and $15,000 from Bank One.
Robinson said the library foundation also applied
for a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and
it will be determined in December if the library will receive the grant.
Anyone interested in contributing to the Branching
Out With Books campaign has several opportunities to name a portion of
the library after themselves or in honor of someone else, said Paget.
For example, people can have their name on 100 shelves
of books for $1,000, or for $500,000 the new joint-library could be named
in honor of them.
The new library is scheduled to be complete in the
spring of 2001 and the cost will be split 50-50 between the Tippecanoe
County Public Library and Ivy Tech State College.
For further information, contact Robinson at 429-0100
or the Library Foundation office at 429-0167.
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