Walworth, NY Library Expansion

As the Friends of the Walworth-Seely Public Library, we help raise funds to fulfill the library’s needs. For more than a decade, the library has been in need of a larger space. The Library Board of Trustees has evaluated many different options over the years, and ultimately decided that it would be most cost effective to expand our current space in the Walworth Town Hall Complex. They began working with an architect in 2019 to design a 1,900 square foot addition that would help fulfill some of the library’s needs, including additional meeting room space, improved staff work areas, and increased storage. The library applied for a NYS Construction Aid grant, but did not receive the full match they were eligible for. With this in mind, they decided to scale down the design to 1,300 square feet.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 brought many challenges to the project. Limits on having employees work together or meet in person caused delays in completing the plans and getting approval from the Town. Once they were able to put the project out for public bid, construction materials costs had skyrocketed, resulting in bids that were well over the budget and available funds. They are now working with the architects to modify the design and try to get some of the building costs down before they are ready to rebid the project. The goal is to get the cost down without losing any more square footage, and to make the space as usable as possible.

The community of Walworth deserves to have a larger and improved library space where the library staff can better serve you, but we need your help to reach our goal! Any donation large or small will make a difference. Thank you for your support!