Fundraising next: Library board OKs $5M for a remodel
Fundraising for the remodeling project of the Garland County Library will begin soon after the library’s board of trustees voted to put $5 million of the library’s funds toward the project Monday.
The board unanimously approved the allocation of $4 million from the library’s unrestricted funds and $1 million from the library’s maintenance and operations fund toward the project, which could cost up to $8.4 million. The remainder of the project’s funds are required to come from fundraising and grants.
“Architects have shown their plans (of) what everything’s going to cost, and I tried to come up with what I thought was a good course of action for the library and the board to entertain,” Adam Webb, the library’s director, told the board.
“I’m asking that we be able to use $5 million of our $7.5 million in funds towards the remodel, that would be $4 (million) out of the reserve fund, which currently has about $5 (million), and then a million out of maintenance and operations for the things that we can purchase using our maintenance and operations dollars. That means that’ll leave us about a $3.4 million gap based on the high end of what the architects said it would cost.”
Webb said there are several areas that could be cut if the fundraising attempts fall short of filling that $3.4 million gap, the largest of which would require a closure of the library during the remodel and cut down the construction time.
“We could cut close to half a million dollars if we close the library during construction and set up temporary headquarters elsewhere,” he said.
“The reason being is that 18-month construction schedule where they’re trying to work around us and the public while the library’s open is tacking on an additional six months to the construction schedule.
“So (the architects) said if we cut that down to 12 months and had the building closed where the workers can get in and just do their work, it would cut about half a million dollars off of the cost of the total bill.”
The library would then need to lease a space “that would be large enough for us to do most of
our program and move things,” which would cost an estimated $100,000, Webb said.
Making allowances in the project for things like “acoustic baffles, decorative murals, children’s play structures” would give the library the option to remove or modify those options after construction began, he said.
“(Chris Sheppard) said if we look hard, there’s at least a million dollars worth of potential allowances in the project,” Webb said, referring to a conversation he had with the architect from Taylor Kempkes Architects.
“So I know there’s few ifs here. If we closed and had temporary headquarters elsewhere, that would bring it down to around eight. If we put all these allowances in and didn’t fill all of them, or let’s say we only ended up fundraising $7 million, that would still be within the cushion to do everything, or most of the things,” he said.
“We would do without some of the bigger ticket items that are maybe flashy, but we could do those later, especially if it’s a single item that we purchase from somewhere and then just put it in the building.”
Attorney Merek Rowe, one of the board members, asked where the library would get the remainder of the funds.
“We’re gonna go to the Oaklawn Foundation and ask for some money,” Webb said. “We’ve already gotten calls into a number of different foundations, getting that ball rolling. We’ve had a couple of positive talks with Sen. (John) Boozman’s office. I don’t know if he’s going to fund that or not, but basically, what I’m asking here is a pledge where if I don’t raise that gap in the next year, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. It might mean the project doesn’t get off the ground if we don’t raise enough money to do it.”
The board also agreed to allow Webb to pursue renewal of the library’s contract with SirsiDynix, which provides the software used by the library for checking out items, compiling reports and more.
Under the current contract, which expires in 2025, the library would pay $275,150 for the next three years.
The new 7-year agreement the company is offering would total $521,449, which would account for a savings of $185,977 if the current contract’s terms were extended for the same seven-year period. The current year’s cost would drop from $89,996 to $68,259 with an annual 2.9% increase for a cost of $81,031 for 2029.
Webb said a bookkeeping error led to conversations with the company’s vice president, who offered the extension. Contract extensions are not required to be open to bids under state law, he said.
The board will have the opportunity to consider the renewal contract in October.