Support the library expansion project

The first couple of times I frequented the library for book browsing or taking pictures of summer educational events, it quickly became apparent to me how crowded the current location is, especially during warmer weather.

I've always enjoyed going to the library, and, for most of my life, I was a patron of the Clear Lake Public Library. Some of my earliest memories include "reading" If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and The Rainbow Fish.

At one point, the Clear Lake library was only a few hundred square feet larger than the Storm Lake library. Perhaps it didn't feel as cramped since it was on two levels, but I do remember a few eyesores from a bygone era: weird red chairs that were stylish at one time and equally obnoxiously bright carpet in the children's area.

The time finally came for a $2.5 million expansion project. Clear Lake's library faced the same issues that Storm Lake does: wanting to keep the original building but having little space to expand.

Luckily, they had an adjacent Masonic Temple that created a seamless addition with the library's original Carnegie design. Modern prairie styling gives a subtle nod to Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed numerous homes in Mason City.

While the prospect of a "new" building was exciting, the in-between period was not.

Transition was awkward, since all the books had to be moved to a different location while expansion was underway. It always seemed the books I wanted to check out were "lost," but eventually were "found" after the books moved back to the library.

I can't imagine what a headache that was for library staff - packing and re-shelving thousands of books twice.

But, in the end it was worth it. An extra 5,000 square feet bumped the library's size up to 15,814 square feet, a comfortable size for its 8,812 patrons. They also added a lot of things the Storm Lake library has on its wishlist: updated design, more natural light, additional public computers, a larger meeting room, new study rooms, larger dedicated staff areas and an expanded children's section.

Slowly but steadily, Storm Lake is inching towards a new library, too. Even though a project cost has yet to be set, fundraising will most likely be in the works.

Community support for the project will be needed, with an opportunity quickly approaching next week. FEH and Associates architects will be conducting a charrette design process at the library Dec. 14-15, creating library designs as they take suggestions.

After the charrette process, we'll will have a rough idea of what the new library will look like.

I'm excited to see what happens next.