The State Bond Commission approved a $145,000 grant for the Stonington Free Library on Wednesday, December 18th, 2019. The Library was awarded the funding by the State Library Construction Grant Program last year. Once awarded, the Library was required to raise matching funds within a year before seeking bonding approval. Thanks to our generous community the matching funds were raised through awards from state and local governments, foundations and private individuals.
The Library is most grateful to State Rep. Kate Rotella, D-Stonington, for her continued support of this project. Her persistent advocacy enabled the project to be added to the Bonding Commission’s agenda and to be approved.
The Library will use the grant to help fund Phase 2 of its planned Renovation and ADA Accessibility Building Project. The second phase of the project addresses the existing spaces of the Library and focuses on creating more flexible, functional, user-friendly spaces throughout the building, including movable furniture, mobile shelving, new carpeting and paint, improved electrical infrastructure and critically needed work space for the public. The State Library Construction Grant will cover half of the estimated $290,000 cost of Phase 2 of the project.
Library Director Belinda de Kay, stated “We are so excited to see our vision of providing a Stonington Free Library for the 21st century come one step closer to reality! We would like to extend a special thanks to the CT State Library for establishing the public library construction program, and to the governor and our local representatives for their efforts in placing it on the Bonding Commission agenda.”
