27-01-2025
Shoals library ready for groundbreaking
Jan. 27—SHOALS — The Shoals Public Library will soon begin a $1.9 million expansion project.
The groundbreaking is set for Friday at noon at the library on High Street.
"I think we are going to go ahead with it rain or shine, because we have waited so long and worked so hard to get this going," said Shoals library director Sylvia Albaugh. "We are working with Taber-Owens Construction from Washington. We anticipating the construction work to begin soon, as soon as we can get this ground thawed out a little bit."
The project is two stories with 800 square feet of new space on each floor. Most importantly it will have an elevator with ground-level access. A new children's area will be on the second level.
"We are an old Carnegie library. The building was constructed in 1914. It is an historic building that we have all come to love," said Albaugh. "Unfortunately, there is no access for people with mobility issues. There are a lot of stairs to get into the door and once inside there are even more stairs."
Albaugh says the project began several years ago with an estimated cost of $1 million, but COVID delayed the project, then construction and material prices began to sky rocket.
"We received an OCRA grant for $500,000 but with the economy and the way things are, the bids came in much higher than anticipated. We scrambled a lot. We received a modification to that grant and now it is $750,000," said Albaugh. "Within our community we raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. We have had an overwhelming amount of community support. We received $200,000 from the Martin County Community Foundation and we are borrowing money from the USDA Rural Development."
The additional money became necessary after library officials opened bids in the fall and realized the small expansion project was going to be far more costly than expected.
"When we opened bids, we were really heartbroken. We thought our project was going to fail," said Albaugh. "Our community stepped up and gave us overwhelming support and we couldn't give up. So, between the community support and the extra funding from OCRA we were able to get this done."
Albaugh says the support of the community and the way they have worked for the project has been inspiring.
"It's wonderful to be part of this community, and part of this project," she said. "We had been working at this for five or six years. The pandemic slowed us down, and the way things have been since then, the supply shortages and all of those things. Our library sits in a National Historic District, and that required extra work and increased the cost."
Albaugh says the community's backing was spontaneous and officials took that support as a reason not to give up on the project.
"Everyday we would go to the mailbox and there would be another hundred dollars, and you would add it into the pot and each one didn't make much of a dent, but all of them added up over time," she said. "The community support was just overwhelming."
That support has continued as the project moves toward construction. The library building is temporarily shut down during the construction, but operations are continuing in a small office space on Main Street in Shoals.
"When we were moving, we would carry stuff down the stairs and put in on the curb, and people who were driving by would stop and pick it up and move it for us into our temporary library. They would just be going about their day and they would stop and help," said Albaugh. "Now, a lot of our materials are in storage. We have some set up in the building on Main Street. We can still provide a lot of the services there. Summer reading will be a challenge. The target completion date is mid-December, so that would be a nice Christmas present."
Albaugh said she is hoping to get several additional fixes done while the construction is underway and the library is still fundraising. Donations can be made directly to Shoals Public Library, PO Box 909, Shoals, IN 47581.
Donation may also be made online at patronicity program at
