As the new Foley Public Library nears completion, the facility is getting money from several outside sources to add more services.
The new library is under construction on East Orange Avenue south of U.S. 98. The facility is scheduled for completion later this year. When completed, the new two-story library will have more than 40,000 square feet of space.
The current building, which opened in 1984, has about half the space that the new library will have. The additional space will allow the city to provide more services in the new center.
The Foley City Council voted Monday, May 4, to accept a Library Services and Technology Act Strengthening Youth and Family Grant.
Library Director Kate Norris said the $20,000 grant will provide money to equip the new library Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, or STEAM, Lab.
“This room in the library is going to be used for learning. We’re going to call it the Learning Lab,” she said. “We already implement learning things at the library and this will be used to expand that.”
Norris said the grant will allow the library to add to the technology offered in the center’s programs.
“We want to be smart about what we purchase. We want to make sure that it will be beneficial,” she said. “We’re going to get a lot of use out of it. “We’re super excited about this and it’s moving very quickly.”
The library will also have a new sensory room. Norris said a donation by the Foley Woman’s Club will provide $19,200 for equipment for that facility.
“Because it’s such a nice donation, we would like to request naming this space, the Foley Woman’s Club Sensory Nook,” Norris told council members.
Sensory spaces in libraries are designed to provide a range of experiences to meet the needs of certain users. The rooms can offer different types of spaces with options to study, decompress or relax.
The council also voted to accept a donation from State Rep. Donna Givens for $2,000. The donation will be used to buy general technology for the new library.
“Y’all have an amazing library and you have a new one under construction,” Givens said. “This is just something that I want to do annually.”
“Thank you all for what you do. I appreciate each and every one of you,” she added.
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