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Vermont libraries get federal funds to upgrade facilities

A yellow building that appears to be a former home, with porches on the first and second floors, with signs in front that say "library" and "24/7 free wifi"
April McCullum
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Vermont Public
The public library in Groton is one of the grant winners and will receive more than $500,000 to expand its building, install a new HVAC system and improve accessibility.

Vermont libraries are getting their biggest infusion of federal funding in decades.

Fourteen public libraries will split nearly $16 million in grants from the American Rescue Plan Act. In a state where half of library buildings are more than 100 years old, according to Commissioner of Libraries Catherine Delneo, the grants, which were finalized this week, will fund much-needed infrastructure improvements across the state.

“To maintain those historic structures is expensive, and to modernize them for today’s library services is also a challenge,” Delneo said Tuesday.

The two structures that make up the Bennington Free Library were constructed in 1865 and 1936. Library Director Wendy Sharkey said air quality issues related to the antiquated HVAC systems have become a barrier to entry for immunocompromised residents who rely on its services.

"It means that if people need to come in and use these facilities, we have the option of offering it to everybody."
Wendy Sharkey, Bennington Free Library

Sharkey said the $1.5 million ARPA grant that Bennington Free won this week will help solve the problem by funding building envelope improvements, HVAC upgrades and electrical repairs.

“By having air quality that’s good, by having good connectivity to the internet and things like that, it means that if people need to come in and use these facilities, we have the option of offering it to everybody,” she said.

Thirteen other libraries will receive between $174,000 and $1.5 million to fund capital improvements. Delneo, whose department administered and awarded the ARPA grants, said the program targeted projects that would increase public access to the internet for work, telehealth and education services.

She said the shuttering of public libraries during the coronavirus pandemic spotlighted the important role the institutions play in communities where residents lack home access to internet.

A person in a polka dot dress and gray scarf standing in front of a tree whose leaves are beginning to change color
Peter Hirschfeld
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Vermont Public
Catherine Delneo is the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Libraries.

“For people who don’t have internet at home, that was just a complete absence in their lives,” Delneo said.

While the $15.9 million in grants awarded Monday will provide a major lift to the libraries receiving funds, it won’t come close to addressing the backlog of infrastructure needs at the 187 public libraries in Vermont.

Delneo’s department conducted a statewide capital-needs assessment in 2023 and estimates that libraries will need more than $100 million total to address deteriorating infrastructure. She said she hopes that a forthcoming national needs analysis, being conducted by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, will result in significantly more federal funding for libraries in the near future.

“It’s a great time for libraries in Vermont, and I hope that we’re going to continue to build, that this won’t be the last you hear about these opportunities and about big things coming for libraries,” Delneo said.

Sharkey said she’s grateful Bennington Free Library won its ARPA grant. But she said she worries about the more than 50 other public libraries in Vermont whose applications for funding were denied.

“We teach children how to read. We teach parents how to interact with their children, to help them on their journeys,” Sharkey said. “We’re so important, and we’re undervalued, and I think that’s a shame.”

More from Brave Little State: Not just ‘academics and diversions’: How libraries remain at the heart of Vermont towns

List of libraries receiving grants

Alice M. Ward Memorial Library

City: Canaan

County: Essex

Award: $900,000

Project: Interior renovations for ADA compliance and improved patron centered useability; new HVAC system, new windows

Arvin A. Brown Public Library

City: Richford

County: Franklin

Award: $174,502

Project: Renovations to increase useable library space, new HVAC system, electrical system updates, new windows, and interior renovations for ADA compliance

Bennington Free Library

City: Bennington

County: Bennington

Award: $1,500,000

Project: Building envelope repairs with new windows and insulation, new HVAC system with electrical system updates

Brandon Free Public Library

City: Brandon

County: Rutland

Award: $1,406,936

Project: Installation of four-story elevator with renovations and improvements for ADA compliance, repair or replace windows for energy efficiency

Brooks Memorial Library

City: Brattleboro

County: Windham

Award: $1,472,501

Project: Asbestos abatement and building envelope repairs with interior and exterior renovations for ADA compliance

Grand Isle Free Library

City: Grand Isle

County: Grand Isle

Award: $1,500,000

Project: New library building construction

Groton Free Public Library

City: Groton

County: Caledonia

Award: $522,043

Project: Building expansion and envelope repairs with renovations for ADA compliance, new HVAC system

Jeudevine Memorial Library

City: Hardwick

County: Caledonia

Award: $725,000

Project: Library expansion with two-story addition, four ADA compliant bathrooms, HVAC plumbing and electrical updates

Johnson Public Library

City: Johnson

County: Lamoille

Award: $1,500,000

Project: Relocate building away from flood zone with new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Construct an addition to existing building. Renovations to egresses for ADA compliance

Lawrence Memorial Library

City: Bristol

County: Addison

Award: $483,000

Project: New HVAC system, building envelope repairs for structural integrity, electrical and mechanical system updates

Leach Public Library

City: Irasburg

County: Orleans

Award: $1,082,750

Project: Library expansion with two-story addition, new elevator, ADA compliant bathroom, and new HVAC system

Middletown Springs Public Library

City: Middletown Springs

County: Rutland

Award: $1,293,384

Project: Renovate and upgrade library building infrastructure at new library site

Salisbury Free Public Library

City: Salisbury

County: Addison

Award: $978,807

Project: Repair or replace HVAC system, new plumbing system, potable water, interior and exterior renovations for ADA compliance

Wilder Memorial Library

City: Weston

County: Windsor

Award: $650,000

Project: Building expansion and envelope repairs, new HVAC and plumbing systems, electrical system updates, and new ADA compliant bathroom

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Corrected: October 2, 2024 at 9:42 AM EDT
The story was corrected to add a missing word
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