Montoursville library launches capital campaign
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The story of Montoursville's W. B. Konkle Memorial Library began with a bequest by Joan S. Konkle in 1941 of her home at the corner of Broad Street and Loyalsock Avenue, to be used as a town library to memorialize her husband, Dr. William Bastian Konkle.
Today the library is located in the former Peoples Bank Building, 384 Broad St., and is kicking off a capital campaign to renovate the interior in order to strategically place areas such as bookshelves and computer stations to allow for expanded use.
At this time, donations, mostly from corporate, county and board member commitments, total about $110,000 toward their goal of $325,000,
"This library is over 75 years old and it's here to serve the public and it has done that so well over the years," said Donna J. Miller, member of the library's board and co-chair of the Capital Campaign committee.
"I think if you go all the way back, you can see that people said that they brought their children here. But now their children are adults and they have children. Some are grandparents and they bring their children and their grandchildren here. So, it's a long living legacy," she said.
In the spring of 2019, the board retained Anthony Visco Architects to develop a feasibility study and schematic planning. The board approved the proposed floor plan which formed the basis of the design for the renovation and remodel.
The goal of the renovation and remodel is to improve accessibility issues, replace shelving, furniture, carpet, lighting, an air conditioning unit and the roof. In addition the plan is to create smaller gathering and tutoring areas, needed storage space, new computer stations, a new vestibule and a new office space for the librarian.
According to Board President Dennis Correll, the renovations will increase the versatility of the library's 4,800-square-foot facility.
"Right now we are locked in with our space. With our new vision, that we have a preliminary draft of, will allow us to have every room be much more flexible because the furniture will be on wheels and we'll be able to move things," Correll said.
Correll noted that at the present time programming for all ages at times occurs in the children's area which limits activities. The ability to alter the conformation of the spaces within the library offers the flexibility to expand programming.
"We'll be able to use the next room (to the children's area) also. The way it will be designed, all the furniture will be able to be moved to one side and then we'll have another big open space," Correll said.
"The community is always looking for a place to do things and right now we've been landlocked to this room but we're very adamant that we're not going to infringe upon the children coming in, so we have to play with that timing -- do more late evening activities. With having that rearranged, we'll be able to do some afternoon programming also," he added.
At the present time the library also serves as a site for tutoring.
"It's a lot of one-on-one. Right now we don't have private areas. We really only have two tables," Correll said, indicating that those are also in the children's area.
"We don't like it in here because of the children. The design would be that in that room and this room there will be some smaller pocketed areas, using the furniture. Then we can isolate a two-table person setup and we can do that tutoring, because that happens all year long," he said.
He noted that the tutoring service is utilized by all age groups on a year round basis and ideally in a public setting.
"This is the only public place they can do that. There is no other public place in town they could do that." he said.
"We're trying to be visionary with the future," he added.
Konkle Library has not been renovated since 2005, when the Children's Wing was added. Nothing has been done to other areas of the library since the late 1990's.
"After 20 years, the carpet needs work, we have a roof that needs work, those things that aren't exactly exciting and fun, but need to be part of our project," said Bob Weaver, board member and co-chair of the Capital Campaign committee.The group envisions a bright, airy space, once the renovations are completed, in addition to having shelves that are more accessible.
"Everything comes down, we want to be more accessible. Right now some of our stacks are not as accessible for some people," Correll said, noting that when the library was first built, the shelves were as high as eight feet, something not heard of today.
"That's just the history of an old-time library. That's what they did. That's where their space was," he added. "Our vision as a board is just to recreate the community library for Montoursville."
Over 40,000 units of materials are checked out at Konkle each year with less than 4,000 patrons.
"That's a lot of movement of materials. Our little librarians are very busy," Correll said.
The library changed with the needs of the community. It's such a valuable asset to anybody who wants to move to the area, anyone who lives here. It's very hard to define what it means. It means so many different things to so many different people in the community. It's just something we need to have," said Rex Hilton, chairman of the Capital Campaign.
"The Montoursville community has always been very supportive of all of our activities over the years. We believe with the goal that is set that it's certainly achievable for our community," Correll said.
Other members of the committee are board members Rosemary Holmes and Krista Weaver.
The board anticipates the project will be designed this fall with construction beginning next year.