The Jefferson City Council approved a request to move forward with a feasibility study for the public library.

Dr. Susan Laehn with the Jefferson Library Board of Trustees gave a presentation to the City Council at their most recent meeting outlining previous studies that were done to guide them on their needs and planning for the future. Laehn pointed out that in one of the studies, it was noted that when compared to other libraries of similar population size and services offered, the Jefferson Library loaned out 50-percent more items, provided twice as many programs, and their book collection is 17-28-percent larger, all being done is a smaller environment.

Following a 2018 study done with library planning consultant George Lawson, Laehn noted the current issues the library is experiencing, starting with the 8,000-square foot facility.  

“If you’ve been in the library, it does feel crowded when you walk in. There’s a lot of things in there because it’s not a big space. Because of that, it fails to meet a lot of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. We are grandfathered into that. That also makes major improvements really difficult. If we engage in any improvements we then have to overhaul a lot of things to be compliant with the ADA.”

Laehn said the feasibility study would result in three possible conclusions, including renovation and extension of the current buildings, repurposing an empty building, or building a new facility.

City Administrator Mike Palmer supports the project, which Laehn said no major renovations had been done to the library in over 50 years.

“It’s time to address their existing facilities. I think they’ve gone as far as they possibly can with it. Like they pointed out, it’s a real challenge. They’re grandfathered in on ADA compliance, they’re limited on square footage, how many books and facilities they can put in, even though they’ve tried about everything they can.”

The Council approved the estimated $40,000 cost for the feasibility study, with funds to be used from the City’s automatic 0.5-percent money they received from the adjusted gross revenue of Wild Rose Casino and Resort in Jefferson.