A new Greensburg Hempfield Area Library is under consideration after a consultant told its board of directors that expansion of the facility wouldn't be prudent.
Board members must decide if they want to construct a new building, where to locate it and how to pay for it.
"We haven't (made a decision)," said Art Caramella, chairman of the group's planning committee. "We're still talking about the size of the building and how we're going to fund it."
The 16,000-square-foot library on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Greensburg is cramped and cannot support its more than 85,000 books and audiovisual items, computers and other resources, library board members said.
Last year, library officials began to explore options with the help of library consulting firms. The consultants said in a report earlier this year that expansion wasn't wise, and the costs to reorganize how space is used at the facility would be costly and gain little.
Caramella said board members have discussed a new 30,000- to 35,000-square-foot building, or about double the library's size. A new library would cost an estimated $6 million to $7 million to build and furnish, he said. Operating expenses and any acquisition costs would be extra expenses.
"We know what we'd like to do, but we don't know what's feasible to do," Caramella said. "We're still in the process. We hope we can do it, but we're not sure we're going to be able to put it together."
The library board members have begun talking to foundations and other community groups to gauge their interest in helping support any construction.
"I would say that what we're doing is exploratory," said board member Alex Graziano, a planning committee member and vice president of the library board. "We're trying to figure out what's the best thing to move forward."
The consultants suggested a 50,000-square-foot building, but Caramella said the cost is too high.
Talk of a new building resulted after efforts to relocate the library into at least four other structures in Greensburg proved unsuccessful, Caramella and others said.
"I think every building we've look at in Greensburg ... either it was structurally inadequate or didn't have enough square footage," Caramella said.
At issue is the need for a building that can support the substantial weight of the combination of books and shelving.
"When you're looking at buildings anywhere, if they can't hold 150 pounds per square foot, they have to be eliminated," said Cesare Muccari, library director. "That's been our biggest challenge."
Randal Finfrock, another planning committee member and a Greensburg councilman, said he sees two likely choices: to do nothing or build a new library.
Rebecca Gardner, library board president, couldn't be reached for comment.
Directors aren't ruling out relocating the library to Hempfield, which has more open area for construction than Greensburg, if a facility is built.
Caramella said he believes most board members would like to keep the library in Greensburg, which is centrally located in Westmoreland County and the library's service area.
"People in Hempfield would love to have it, but from a practical standpoint, I think we should keep it in town," Caramella said. "And I think everybody (on the board) pretty much agrees that's where it should be."
But Muccari and others said the board may be forced to look outside Greensburg.
"I would say that's probably true," he said of the desire of most board members to keep the facility in Greensburg. "But that doesn't mean something couldn't change."
Graziano said the decision on a location will have to be based on what is best for patrons.
"A central location would probably be the best, but you never say never," Graziano said. "We have more unanswered questions than answered questions."
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