EAST HELENA — The City of East Helena has 2,150 residents, and 1,051 of them have a library card.
With nearly half the population using the library, it is a needed resource for the town.
The Lewis and Clark Library is looking to expand its facility after getting approval to start surveying from the East Helena City Council.
"We all can't wait for a new building. We haven't built a new building in this library system since 1976," said John Finn, the director of Lewis and Clark Library.
The current East Helena Library was built in the early 1900s and is the only building the Lewis and Clark Library does not own.
The new library would be between JFK Park and the Kennedy Park Swimming Pool.
Finn said, "We think that we could build a nice little municipal area there with the park and the pool, and there's still room for the city to build shops or whatever else they need for their equipment."
The current library is 2,000 square feet, and the new library would be 11,000 square feet.
The director of Lewis and Clark Library, John Finn, says the growth is necessary for the town.
"They're planning thousands of new homes; we see this as an opportunity to serve that growing community that's about to explode," said Finn.
The first step in building the new library is a feasibility study to see the best design and construction approach.
The City of East Helena owns the area where they are looking to build the library, and it has not been determined if it will be purchased or leased.
Finn says they expect the project to cost around $6,000,000, paid with money from their savings, borrowing from the Montana Board of Investments, and funding supported by the Lewis and Clark Library Foundation.
Many of the new library's aspects will be similar to the Helena branch's renovations in 2020.
Finn said, "You'll see new community spaces, places to sit, read, and have conversations. We have new study rooms here. We have a new cafe. All of that we proposed on a smaller scale at the new library in East Helena."
Finn says if everything goes as planned, he could see the library opening in the next five years.
For questions about possible new facility email JFinn@lclibrary.org.
