In 1913 Brookings citizens approved a one-mill levy for the library and it officially became the BPL. A lot was purchased at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Williams Street (now 4th Street) and a $10,000 grant was received from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation for a building. The Carnegie Library was completed and dedicated on February 18, 1915.
By the early 1970’s it was very obvious that the community had outgrown the Carnegie Library. However, it too three bond issue elections before voters approved the construction of a new library. The new library was build directly south of the original library. The library was dedicated on November 21, 1976.
In the mid 1980’s the Library board determined that due to steady and continuing growth in both use and public support of the library, and addition should be planned, a bond narrowly failed in 1989. Funding for the expanded Brookings Public Library using second penny sales tax revenues was approved in 1997. Construction began in March 1998. During the 18 months of construction the library doubled its size from 16,000 to 32,000 square feet. The cost of the project was $2.8 million the Friends donated $2,500 towards the expansion and a $78,000 grant was received. Over 160 volunteers helped move the library twice. The collection was moved in April 1999 from the old part to the newly constructed upstairs and again in July 1999 so the upstairs could be completed.
(3D Model Courtesy of: SDSU Image Processing Lab) #Brookings #Education #Library #South_Dakota
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