Library branch to upgrade, expand with $250,000 donation

Mentor Public Library’s Lake Branch will receive a substantial upgrade and expansion this year, thanks to the generosity of Francis “Bud” Paulson.

A $250,000 donation via the Beryl B. Paulson Memorial Endowment Fund was willed toward the project by The Francis M. Paulson Irrevocable Trust of 1990.

Lake Branch’s expansion will include the construction of another meeting room. This addition will be permanently known as The Beryl P. Paulson Annex and Meeting Room in

honor of Paulson’s wife.

The new space will make it possible for the Lake Branch to host more and bigger programs.

“The Paulsons’ gift is overwhelming in its generosity,” Library Executive Director Cheryl Kuonen said. “Every library is a reflection of its community, and extraordinary gifts like the Paulsons help the library accomplish extraordinary things.”

The Lake Branch is located at 5642 Andrews Road in Mentor-on-theLake.

A love of boating drew Paulson and his wife to the community, and Beryl was an avid reader, said library spokesman Jason Lea.

“They actively used and supported Mentor Public Library throughout their lives,” he said.

Beryl died in 2005, and Bud in 2017.

“He became a trustee of the library during a really important time (in its history) — an era of modernization,” Lea noted.

Bud served on the library board from 1958 to 1966. His tenure included the following events:

• The expansion of the library’s Main Branch on Mentor Avenue

• The establishment of the first branch in Mentoron-the-Lake

• The acquisition of the Headlands Branch from the Fairport Harbor Public Library

• The separation of Mentor Public Library from the school system

The Lake Branch was dedicated on Aug. 30, 1998.

A timeline for construction and site plans will be forthcoming.

COURTESY OF MENTOR PUBLIC LIBRARY The Lake Branch of Mentor Public Library was dedicated in 1998.