HIAWATHA — A $2 million fundraising campaign for the Hiawatha Public Library has almost reached its goal.
With a recent $400,000 grant award from The Hall-Perrine Foundation, the campaign has raised $1.52 million since announcing its fundraising efforts in June, Hiawatha Public Library Director Jeaneal Weeks said.
“We are confident we’re going to get there,” she said. “ ... It feels like we’re getting toward the end.”
The $2 million is set to be used in conjunction with other funds — a $1.2 million bond voters approved in November and $1 million in local-option sales tax from the city of Hiawatha — to build a 13,500-square-feet addition to the library at 150 W. Willman St.
At only 8,543 square feet, the library is pressed for space for all its patrons, Weeks said.
“The library is highly, highly used because it’s only two blocks from the border of Hiawatha and Cedar Rapids, so we’re way busier that other libraries our size,” said Weeks, who has headed the library since 2003. “We do the business of libraries that are much, much larger in a much smaller space.”
More than 200 contributions have been given to the campaign, Weeks said, with a “sizable portion” from individuals.
The Hall-Perrine Foundation’s gift was the largest yet, followed by $300,000 donations from AEGON Transamerica Foundation and $100,000 from Crystal Group.
The Linn County Supervisors, Carver Charitable Trust and Farmers State Bank also have made donations of $50,000 or more.
“Really and truly, the two large pieces of money that we were still going after were the Hall-Perrine Foundation and the Enhance Iowa” board, Weeks said, which awards state grants to facilities that improve Iowans’ quality of life.
The Hiawatha Public Library intends to pitch the Enhance Iowa Board in July, Weeks said.
If successful, the library could break ground on its addition as soon as September, she said.
Weeks hopes to keep the library open during construction.
Work, she said, would last “probably a year, if we’re able to go up for bid in late July or August — if all the stars align.”
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