Referendum set on new Galway Public Library

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

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A $1.8 million referendum has been set for this fall on construction of a new Galway Public Library.

The Sept. 23 referendum will ask voters who live in the Galway Central School District — the area the library serves — to authorize borrowing up to $1.8 million to build a library on East Street.

The additional cost of the library borrowing would be about $50 per year for a home assessed at $100,000, said Library Director Michol Tuttle.

The 7,500-square-foot building being proposed would replace an 1,800-square-foot former Odd Fellows Hall on North Street, which library officials say is too small for current needs. The library was founded in 1998.

The new library would actually cost about $3.1 million, but contributions from the Dockstader Charitable Trust and other private sources are making up the difference, Tuttle said.

Plans for a new library have been in the works for some time. State grant money has supported some of the planning.

In 2013, the library trustees purchased a 13.6-acre site on East Street in the village, across from St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church.

The trustees are working with Butler Rowland Mays Architects of Ballston Spa to design the building.

Assuming the referendum passes, trustees expect to break ground in the spring, with building completion in the summer of 2017.

The library’s service area covers the Galway School District, which includes residents of West Charlton, Providence and small parts of Amsterdam and Perth, as well as Galway itself.

The referendum will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Galway Town Hall on Sacandaga Road.

The library will host a family-friendly public awareness event at the new site from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23.