Month: December 2010

The Fa’ade Renovation Guidelines were developed by Architect Rick Hauser of In.Site:Architecture, Louise Wadsworth from Alliance for Business Growth, Julie Marshal from Livingston County IDA and a local steering committee. The steering committee was composed of various building owners, business owners, and community leaders.

These guidelines will be used in conjunction with the two grants that are currently available. One is New York Main Street Grant for use in the central business district. The New York Main Street Grant applicants will be evaluated and selected based on these guidelines, as well as other weighted criteria laid out by the grant. The second grant is the Livingston County Fa’ade and Sign Grant Program. This grant will be administered by the County and they will also use the Fa’ade Renovation Guidelines in the evaluation and selection process. This grant is open to several other communities in the county. Both grant applications will be available in January 2011.

The Fa’ade Renovation Guidelines document is available here:
www.dansvillelibrary.org/2010-11-24_final-dansville.pdf

The Children’s Collection of the Dansville Public Library is now available for use at the former Reinholtz building at 167 Main Street. Hours for the Annex are Wednesday through Friday, 10-12 and 2-6 p.m. Saturday hours are noon until 4 p.m.

The first step in the Library’s building expansion project will be the removal of a 1937 addition on the east side of the Shepard building. Walls of rooms housing staff operations will also be demolished at the same time, and the shelving units attached to those walls, on the other side, will be removed. All these changes necessitated moving staff forward in the building, and and required placing a notable portion of the collection in storage. including adult non fiction books, reference materials, and young adult books.

To make room for staff and the most popular books, adult nonfiction, reference books, the children’s collection and young adult books were boxed and labeled. Through the generosity of owners Roger and Marleen Mark, the Library was able to rent the space at 167 Main Street and the children’s collection was moved, unboxed, and shelved in its new location.

Dansville Public Library held its Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new addition on Saturday, November 6, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. A number of dignitaries and library supporters attended the event, including Senator Cathy Young.

Secretary to the Board of Trustees, Mary Ann Holden, welcomed the group of about 60 persons, and took the opportunity to summarize the plan for expansion which began 10 years ago. In addition, Ms. Holden gave an update on the current state of the project. A delay to the start of construction continues as final paperwork is filed with government offices.

Senator Young spoke briefly about her love of libraries and her long involvement with Dansville Public Library. She noted that her first official appearance in Dansville was a moment of excitement for the community. At that point she was on hand to deliver a grant of $50,000 later used toward the purchase of the neighboring Wilcox Auction property, a key move for the library expansion.

Members of Staff and Board joined Senator Young to dig deep and take the first official clods of dirt from the site to make the groundbreaking official. Other community members and staff took their places to dig into the ground. A mix of sleety snow and rain briefly blew in as the event came to a close.

Funding for the new addition has been derived from a variety of sources including private donations to the ongoing ‘Where Knowledge Grows’ Campaign; state library construction grants; capital reserve funds; and construction loans from Community Bank, N.A. and USDA Rural Development and ARRA funds. Gifts to the Campaign are still welcome, and pledge forms are available at the Library.