EXPANSION Lepper Library gets loan

The library wants an addition on the east and north sides of the structure.
LISBON -- The Lepper Library has received a $1 million loan for a long-delayed expansion project.
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the $1 million loan for The Lepper Library Association.
The loan comes from the USDA's Rural Development program, and will be used to help fund the construction of a nearly 12,000-square-foot addition to the existing 6,600-square-foot library.
"These funds will not only expand the library and make it more accessible to the public, but will also provide it more tools to continue to inspire the imaginations of our children and grandchildren," Voinovich said. "The construction project will also help aid in the region's economic recovery by creating new jobs and opportunities."
Surprise
Library director Nancy Simpson could not be reached for comment, and the news came as a surprise to library workers.
The nearly $3.3 million project has been stalled for several years over creation of a funding package.
The library wants an addition on the east and north sides of the structure at 303 E. Lincoln Way. The library was originally built to hold 3,000 books; however, the library has more than 15,000 books.
Expansion plans called for more space for books, a garage for the library's bookmobile, a conference room, children's room and a reference area. The bookmobile covers about 6,000 miles annually in regular trips to small communities in the county.
Other plans
Plans also called for razing a nearly 2,000-square-foot addition on the library's north side that dated to the 1960s. That addition had a leaky room and was not accessible to people with disabilities.
The library had raised about $1.5 million for the project and planned to borrow $1 million. Still, that left the project about $800,000 short.
The Lepper Library was constructed in 1897 after a donation from Virginia Cornwell Lepper in memory of her husband, Charles W. Lepper.