T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Marshalltown Public Library staff are living in “construction land,” said Director Sarah Rosenblum, as she shows the renovation and creation of a conference room on the west side of the building. The project is estimated to be finished by the beginning of June.

Patrons of the Marshalltown Public Library might have noticed an increase in noise and dust as there is a big renovation project underway.

On the west side of the building, three new study rooms are being built, a conference room, a podcast room and a lounge area.

“Hopefully the lounge will grow organically,” said Library Director Sarah Rosenblum.

The lounge will help accommodate meetings of people with social service workers, which she said happens frequently.

“We wanted a space that was a little less study room and a little bit more loungy, but it can be for people who want to come in and knit or people who just want to have conversation that is not conducive in public spaces,” Rosenblum said. “We’re not quite sure, but we’re going to see how it’s going to work.”

The footprint of the library will remain as is. She said they are not moving any walls as when it was originally designed and built 17 years ago, it was done so with the idea of possible add-ons.

“We’re just reconfiguring space to better suit the needs of what the community needs at the library,” Rosenblum said.

The reconfiguration means neeting s[ace at the library is limited right now. Fortunately, she said staff has been letting patrons know about the project and impacts for a few months.

Work began on Jan. 19 and thus far, Rosenblum said it has gone very well. The Lennox Family Foundation is donating a rooftop unit for the library as part of it. The project cost is less than $1 million and is paid for by donations to the Friends of the Marshalltown Public Library.

Questions have been asked about using Friends money to pay for operating costs at the library, but Rosenblum stressed that is not possible, according to the bylaws. Friends’ money cannot pay for utility bills or salaries but can be used to enhance the library through the purchase of books or a renovation project such as this one.

“There’s no city money involved,” she said. “Obviously, we’ve had some great assistance from city staff helping us work with the contractor, a company called Garling Construction.”

Rosenblum estimates that the project will be completed in five more months, just around the beginning of summer. She added that is the timeline, unless some big hiccup is encountered, which so far none have popped up. Rosenblum asked the contractor questions about if they would have issues getting supplies with the tariffs in place, but she was told that would not be the case.

The entire project has been talked about for a while, Rosenblum said. The staff have a good handle on obtaining books but knew there was a demand for meeting, gathering, individual study and small group study spaces.

“We hope by building a board room, we can free up the bigger room so if the library board is meeting – we don’t need that much space,” she said. “It’s a good project and good use of the Friends money, building on the original building. We’re very excited about the new space and what it will do for the community.”

Of course, Rosenblum added they are still fundraising, and opportunities are available for people to have sections named after them, depending on how much they donate.

“If someone is interested in a naming opportunity, they can reach out to me and talk to me about it,” she said.

Besides some noise and dust, one service at the library not available during construction is faxing. Rosenblum said it is surprising how frequently people request faxes, but they are necessary for government, real estate or medical documents.

“We had to take our fax line out,” she said. “It does seem a little strange with technology and the ability to send stuff confidentially. Unfortunately, we couldn’t save the fax line temporarily. But so far, not a lot of people have asked what is going on, but with how many people use the building there’s no meeting rooms. As soon as I heard about RAGBRAI, we booked the big room. The last time it came through, we had 400 people in here for coolness, quiet and shelter. I’m assuming we will have a similar number this year.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.